Sailor: We're not choking

They may be spluttering towards the finals rather than cruising but there is no way competition leaders St George Illawarra are late-season chokers, according to veteran winger Wendell Sailor.

Although concerned with his side's recent form, 'Big Dell' denied the Dragons were in freefall after two straight losses – defeats which allowed the Bulldogs to join them on the top of the table with two rounds remaining.

The Red V still holds down pole position courtesy of a superior for and against record but there are tiny cracks appearing in their campaign.

Sailor insists the problems are minor and not a sign the Dragons are headed for a September wipeout.

"I've never been part of a team that chokes," he said.

"If you're chocking you're losing by 20-30 points and you're going out the back door."

"We've lost five games this year – I'm pretty sure we're still first – so if that's choking I'm not a good judge of a football team."

But Sailor admits his team has dropped off in intensity over the past fortnight, allowing Canberra and Brisbane to catch it off guard.

"What we've got to realise now is because we're leading the comp teams are going to want to beat us," Sailor pointed out.

"I knew that five or six weeks ago and we kept stepping up, kept stepping up, but the last two weeks we haven't quite stepped up, we've dropped off the pace a little bit."

"We've stopped doing what works for us a little bit, we're just not that disciplined and we're just not running that hard."

"I think it's attitude. What we've been good at all year is doing the little things well and we've been able to dismantle teams and strangle them a little bit."

"Teams have (now) been doing that to us."

Despite Sailor insistence the Dragons' form slump is temporary, nothing more than a comprehensive win over a depleted South Sydney on Saturday night will convince worried fans.

Hardman Neville Costigan returns after missing the loss to Brisbane.