Michael Maguire unleashing on his Wests Tigers team after their soft and inept performance against the Canterbury Bulldogs last week is a card he can only play once or twice a year.

Any more furious rants and Maguire risks normalising the harsh, disciplinary tactic to a point where it becomes ineffective, no longer able to get and hold his players’ attention grabbing.

His team, which emjoyed a very positive start to the season, capitulated  with a lack of application against a Bulldogs team desperate to kick off their season.

In essence, the biggest difference between the teams was that elusive commodity called ‘team spirit’.

Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary and New Zealand Warriors coach Steve Kearney could easily have lost their tempers at their players during last week’s games, which exposed their lack of toughness. But they didn’t.

Every NRL fan knows their team will at some stage play poorly, so let’s examine what leads to a sudden drop in performance and how a coach and team can best respond.

Rest assured it does not come down to players not caring about the results. Losing any NRL game hurts, and so do the consequences in the days that follow.

The media, events and internal perceptions of performance can be a sources of distraction and cause the team to lose its focus.

Bulldogs’ Josh Jackson is tackled during the round three NRL match between the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury Bulldogs on March 31. Photo: Getty

The Tigers had been getting wraps for their start to the season just as they came up against a team that seemed miles away from playing their best football. As a result, they went into cruise mode and the foot came off the accelerator.

The Panthers are full of young talent, but with endless off-field distractions, this year the team simply lost focus.

The Warriors came into an extremely emotional situation and they looked completely spent.

Accumulative physical fatigue is another key factor that impacts performance. This, however, tends to be more prevalent from mid to late season.

Teams like the Dragons, which have started seasons well in recent years then fallen away, often haven’t managed their training in the correct manner. Generally speaking, it’s tough to be at your best when you’re fatigued and consumed by distractions.

In the NRL, you only have to be slightly off your best to get flogged.

Coaches are able to reduce the frequency of these factors by knowing when and how to rest their players, using strength and conditioning staff and – most important – trusting their gut feelings.

They can reduce the inevitable distractions around their teams by providing themes and stories in preparation to engage their players’ focus.

Trent Robinson and Craig Bellamy do this weekly by framing the entire week leading into every game around a relevant historical event, a team member or inspirational person.

Wayne Bennett of the Rabbitohs does this at an individual level by bringing personal relevance to each game.

Maguire’s blow up wasn’t about the loss they had just experienced, he was way too smart for that.

It was about getting his team’s attention on what they need to change to win this weekend.

That this happens once is inevitable. But twice in a row is a complete no-no.

• Matthew Elliott is a former rugby league player/coach of three NRL clubs: The Canberra Raiders, Penrith Panthers and New Zealand Warriors.