What Power players did on their bye break Port Adelaide vice-captain Brad Ebert says players have been stewing over the five-game losing streak. PORT Adelaide has unfinished business. While our mid-season break probably came at a good time, with a couple of young players appearing to tire and our legs feeling heavy after Darwin, we think we are better than a 5-5 team. Losing five games in a row entering the bye has not sat well with the coaches or playing group. We had our chances to win at least another game or two, particularly in Darwin against the Western Bulldogs when we controlled play early and let a three-goal lead slip. We've had two weeks to stew over our five-game losing streak and are desperate to get back in the winners' circle against Greater Western Sydney tomorrow. The players have used the bye to freshen up in order to attack the second half of the season with real power. We certainly don't feel we have hit the wall, as some have suggested, and can finish our year off strongly, despite some tough games ahead. The players were given four days off during the break and dispersed to all parts of Australia to freshen up mentally as well as physically. I stayed at home to spend time with my girlfriend, Bec, to catch up with family and friends and to do some chores around the house. Alipate ``Bobby" Carlile had a trip to Sydney to watch the State-of-Origin rugby league clash between NSW and Queensland and then returned home to Wangaratta to watch his old football side play. Kane Mitchell returned to his hometown of Perth and our skipper, Travis Boak, went back to Torquay to see his family and catch a few waves on his surfboard. Andrew Moore returned to Victoria while Angus Monfries, an Adelaide boy, went to Melbourne to continue his long-distance romance with his girlfriend, whom he met while he was at Essendon. Locally, good mates Matthew Broadbent, Matthew Lobbe, Tom Jonas and Hamish Hartlett were among the crew who went to Goolwa for some surfing and other fun. Justin Westhoff went back home to the Barossa for a couple of days and played golf at Tanunda with Cameron Hitchcock, John Butcher and Campbell Heath. GOLF is the latest fad among the playing group, having overtaken fishing. Boaky's our star golfer, with strong competition from Monfries, who is a member at Mt Osmond, and Jay Schulz, a member at Grange. The boys probably get together for a hit once a week, usually on their day off. Other golfing regulars include Cam O'Shea, Ollie Wines and Chad Wingard, who is so naturally talented he is a gun at most sports. Gus (Monfries) thinks he is the best, always looking the part in his spiffy shoes and hat. Before golf took hold and after our fishing craze, a lot of the boys headed to the Adelaide Central Market precinct on their day off to eat at our favourite cafe, the Chinatown Cafe. Dumplings were the order of the day. Since returning to training at AAMI Stadium on Sunday, our focus has been on preparing for the second half of the season with the Giants first-up on our agenda. We owe Kevin Sheedy's outfit one after last year but we can't let our emotions spill over and have to, as our coach Ken Hinkley stresses, focus on the processes that we have put in place. Do that and the result should take care of itself. The boys returned to training in good nick and feeling good about our chances this week and for the rest of the season. THE week has been a mixture of skill, weight, yoga and massage sessions, line meetings and opposition analysis. It was broken by Kane Cornes' press conference in the Power lecture room on Tuesday morning when the entire playing group was allowed to sit in on the presser, where Cornes was feted for breaking Warren Tredrea's club games record. It was our way of paying our respects to him and showing how highly he is thought of at the club. I was fortunate enough on Tuesday to be the invited guest to the Medium Rares club's steakhouse dinner. It is run by Mitchell, Broadbent, Lobbe and Jonas; other regulars include Ben Newton and Aaron Young while Darren Pfeiffer is the latest player to jump on board. This week's meal was at the Bombay Bicycle Club, where we enjoyed prime steak and had a good bonding session. The Medium Rares are quickly earning cult status with their reviews of some of Adelaide's finest eating establishments. Most of the boys used their day off on Wednesday to play some golf or catch up with friends but for those boys who study at uni, we were hard at work. Brett Ebert and I are undertaking a human movement course; Lobbe and Young are studying commerce, Jonas is doing a law degree and Monfries is studying journalism. With much of our pre-game preparation completed, we fly out to Sydney at 11.30am today. We will have a light run at Skoda Stadium. After some line meetings this evening we will have dinner together at our hotel. Players are a superstitious lot. Boaky must have lasagne the night before a game while I always have six Weet-Bix with a banana and honey for breakfast before every match. Monfries, in contrast, will opt for porridge. Then it will be game time. Hopefully our meticulously planned preparation will allow us to get the job done.