The way they see it, the season is a long-distance event and you need to have fresh legs for the burst towards the tape.
Well, at least that is how Sharks coach Gifford Henry described it.
Dunedin have not always been at their best and that has been partly by design.
They enjoyed a comprehensive 50-28 win over Southern at Kettle Park last weekend.
But a win like that over the defending champions is not easy to reconcile with their 27-24 loss to struggling Harbour a month earlier.
From the outside looking in, they have been a tad inconsistent.
"We are tracking well now but early days it was a wee bit rocky," Henry agreed.
"But we had a look at the schedule and I think we are the only team that play the top six [teams] twice throughout the whole season, so we knew it was going to be more of a marathon than a sprint."
Henry said they had opted to give some guys a crack earlier but now have players locked in.
"Early on, we had a real emphasis on rotating through the squad and making sure we were testing guys.
"Basically, the overall goal was to land on 25 guys who we know we can clearly rely on going forward.
"We basically landed on that three weeks ago and have had an emphasis on real consistency with our team selections."
That has paid off. Since the loss to Harbour, the Sharks have beaten Kaikorai (23-10) and Taieri (40-0), and had the big win over Southern.
They should be too strong for Alhambra-Union at Kettle Park tomorrow.
Young loosehead prop Hunter Fahey has impressed in a formidable scrum and loosie James Bolton has lifted his physicality this season and has been instrumental in the pack.
Dunedin captain Joe Cooke has been a reliable figure in the midfield, and promising winger Joshua Augustine has turned heads.
Henry feels AU have been better than their results suggest.
"It has been tough for them ... but there is stuff that they do in their game that warrants some real attention from us.
"They are pretty good at operating in the set pieces and they have some pretty electric backs out wide, so were going to need a really good defensive performance."
The Southern-Green Island clash at Bathgate Park shapes as the match of the round, while Zingari-Richmond, who had the bye last week, will look to rebound from a two-game losing streak when they play Kaikorai at Bishopscourt.
Taieri host University in the other game.
