The team had a few niggles and the rest was appreciated from that point of view.
But the Hawks were building some momentum and Nicholas said you just wanted to keep playing when you were in that zone.
Harbour registered a 31-15 win against Dunedin in round five and a 36-10 win against Kaikorai in round six.
Those two impressive results ensured Harbour moved up the table and into a pretty safe position in the top six.
"We had a few injuries starting to creep in and were red-lining personnel-wise, so in that regard the bye was good timing," Nicholas said.
"But then we were playing really good rugby as well."
Barring the unexpected, the Hawks should feature in the playoffs.
Their two remaining round-robin games are against teams in desperate need of competition points, though.
Harbour hosts defending champion University at Watson Park tomorrow and Alhambra-Union at the North Ground.
University and Alhambra-Union appear locked in a struggle for that final playoff berth, so the teams will not be lacking motivation.
"With only one round, every game is a big game, to be honest, and that is how we’ve approached it," Nicholas said.
"You cannot afford to drop too many and we’ve seen that with how close the points table is.
"But we’ve leant if we focus on our game and do our homework on the opposition then we tend to perform well.
"Varsity have had a lot of turnover from last year and that has hurt them, especially in their forward pack. And they are two or three starters down in the backline as well. That all makes a difference.
"When you’ve got youth coming in they are not necessarily used to those tight games and the small margins of error which can make a big difference, you can lose a few. But we’re the same."
Nicholas has been impressed with the effort of some of his younger players.
Halfback Nathan Hastie and lock Taylor Dale have made big strides in their first year out of school, while prop Abraham Pole has taken his game to a new level this year.
There is also an experienced core to help get the side through.
Logan Allen’s raking left punt is crucial to the game plan, while under-rated openside James Tomkinson hits as hard as anyone.
No8 Charles Elton, experienced utility back Sala Halaleva and prop Aiden Spence always make an impact.
Spectators are being asked not to attend club games while Covid-19 Alert Level 2 remains in place.