South Sydney have already set their sights on a week off in September, adamant that is the key to ending their horror preliminary final streak.
The Rabbitohs have been knocked out in the third week of the finals for the past three seasons, agonisingly short of just their second grand final in 50 years.
In all three of those seasons they have emerged from tough wins in the second week of the finals, only to run out of gas a week later.
And while the semi-finals weekend is still 30 weeks away, hooker Damien Cook said the Rabbitohs were already driven by a quest to give themselves a week off.
"I think a big part of our preliminary final loss, we have to earn the right to have the weekend off in the finals and rest up," Cook said.
"We know we're a top-four side. We need to do the right things at the start of the year.
"And that's probably where last year we weren't playing our best footy.
"It cost us some competition points and is probably why we didn't finish in the top four."
Souths, however, expect this year's new rules to suit them from the outset.
While Cook and the Bunnies' spine were expected to be the biggest beneficiaries of last year's mid-season changes, they took time to adapt and lost five of their first nine games out of lockdown.
By season's end however they were the best attacking team in the competition, with the 403 points they scored in their last 12 games the most in the club's history.
This year's game is expected to be quicker again with less scrums and set restarts for offsides, playing into the hands of attacking teams.
Souths have also added Josh Mansour to their backline, with the powerful returner of the ball expected to give players such as Cook plenty of momentum.
"I think we will adapt quicker (to the new rules) and the game will be quicker this year," Cook said.
"Guys like (recruit) Jai Arrow will be great for us in the middle. He is not predictable in what he does. I am excited to play alongside him.
"Someone like Josh Mansour who makes 200 metres a game will take a lot of the pressure off someone like Campbell Graham and Dane Gagai.
"He will be great for us. Hopefully getting our sets off to a great start and bringing the spine into the game."
