Canterbury players admit they have been "micro-sleeping" during games, as statistics reveal the depth of the Bulldogs' struggles late in halves.
Fading just before the whistle has been a theme for the Bulldogs in a dismal three weeks since upsetting ladder-leading Penrith in round six.
Since then, the Bulldogs have been outscored by a combined total of 26-0 in the final 15 minutes of their first halves, meaning they trailed at the break in all three games.
They have leaked five tries in the final 10 minutes across those three games. In the same window of their previous five games, they had conceded only one.
Most recently, North Queensland scored two tries in the final six minutes on Friday night to shore up a 28-12 win, inflicting a three-game losing streak on Canterbury.
Winger Enari Tuala admitted the out-of-sorts Bulldogs were clocking out of games in crucial periods.
"At times, to be honest (we are)," he said.
"We just need to keep doing it for the whole 80 (minutes) and not have micro-sleeps towards the back end of halves where they get easy tries. Just staying present the whole 80."
Tipped as a contender for State of Origin selection this year, Jacob Preston said he feels responsible for fixing the issue.
"For the last couple of weeks, it's been pretty disappointing. We've just got to get back to the drawing board, go out there to training, rip in," he said.
"Just moments in games, we're switching off, which is coming back to bite us. It's on everyone, myself included."
The lapses are putting pressure on the Bulldogs' attack, which has already been unconvincing to begin the season.
On average, Canterbury are scoring the fewest points of any team, bar winless St George Illawarra, with only 18.1 points per game.
They had 43 red-zone tackles against the Cowboys, but managed only two tries, with starting halves Matt Burton and Lachlan Galvin combining for only four try assists this season.
Preston would not blame a change in systems under new attack coach Adam O'Brien for the Bulldogs' struggles with the footy.
"Obviously there's new ideas there, but we worked on it for the whole pre-season," he said.
Preston said the Bulldogs' season-high 32 points in their win over the Panthers came from defence, and staying awake at the wheel.
"We probably played Bulldogs footy for the whole game. I felt like last week we were there for 60 minutes," he said.
"That starts with our defence. I feel like our attack comes off the back of how we defend. It's on us to make sure we go out and rip in defensively."
