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WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Winnipeg Blue Bomber head coach Paul LaPolice points to past practices of the Alouettes, who have won consecutive Grey Cups after earning the bye.

Now that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have settled into the comforts earned through a first place position and first-round bye, what happens next?

Monday, as players and coaches casually made their way in and out of the team complex under an urgency similar to that of a weekend business retreat, the advantages and disadvantages of some down time on the eve of the most important part of the schedule were discussed.

The answers weren't surprising.

"If I had my choice it would always be first place," head coach Paul LaPolice said.

Obviously, it's the popular position that no one would turn down if offered. By winning the penthouse in the East, the Bombers (10-8) can take advantage of all the perks afforded to them from an extra seven days vacation. Injured players, like quarterback Buck Pierce, get more time to heal (he expects to be ready to play), while the front office can take advantage of the bigger window with regards to selling the few thousand tickets that remain for the East Final Nov. 20 (less than 3,000 remain, by the way).

That's all positive, but there is a concern with idle hands.

Players enjoy today and tomorrow off the field, and the club will go through a light special teams walkout at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex Thursday. After that, four full days off to be used at the player's discretion. Some will stay in Winnipeg; some will head back home.

The club begins on-field preparations for either the Montreal Alouettes or the Hamilton Tiger-Cats a week from today.

"The biggest thing they're going to have to do on those four days off is still work their cardio," LaPolice warned, addressing the potential devilish dangers of a young team having too much time off. "That's the only thing I've cautioned some of the veterans about: make sure they're still working out, keep their strength up, (and) don't disappear for a whole week."

The coach misspoke. He isn't worried about the veterans. It's the youngsters, the players who are about to taste their first bites of CFL playoff action, that he's hoping the experienced, older guys keep an eye on.

With good reason; focus has been an issue in the second half of the season. When was the last time this club won two in a row?

First place is a great accomplishment for this club, no question, and it's off the mark to say they don't deserve it. But the worry out there is that this club can't seem to handle success; the current inconsistencies masked by summer dominance and with just three wins in its last 10 games the Bombers certainly don't resemble the same outfit that was using a 7-1 record to sell Swaggerville T-shirts earlier this season.

Sound harsh? Well, that's the reality, and that's where those with 'veteran' labels on their sweaters come into play.

They know gentle reminders need to be handed out.

"It's important that we don't forget what's got us here and what we need to do to be successful," Pierce said on how the small leadership core can stem the complacency tide. "Just because we have extra time doesn't mean it's time to go off or time to start looking too far ahead. It's time to bear down and do more than you've ever done.

"That's what really helps getting that week off -- getting the extra time in, not taking the extra time off."

Pierce has made two playoff starts (both in 2008 as a member of the B.C. Lions) and is one of a dozen players on the Bombers on the Bombers roster (active and one-game injured reserve) who have some idea what the CFL post-season experience is like.

LaPolice says he's not concerned about how the club will mentally adjust to the extra holiday time and points to Montreal's bye-week schedule the last couple years to diffuse any worry about his course of action.

"(Marc Trestman) gave them the entire week off," he said. "It didn't seem to affect them."

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 8, 2011 D4