The league I play in has 4 games to go until finals of which our 1's and 2's should be a part of it unless something goes drastically wrong.
Winter thus far has been a slog unlike the more recent years with at least 2 games in driving rain which really amps up contact/collisions and running loading via an increase in energy output to cover the same ground on dry land.
If you've played every game and trained weekly then you have a right to feel a little sore and run down so to make sure you're right for the run home and then finals.
#1 - TRAINING OUTPUT MUST MATCH HOW PLAYERS FEEL
AFL/VFL clubs do a power of wellness monitoring and coupled with their GPS data, can pretty much tell a player how he's feeling, or should be feeling, before they do!
At local/amateur level all we really have is the most important tracking metric - to ask.
A players greatest attribute is availability and as a coach you can't simply go into training with 1 definitive plan and not be flexible with it for players that need it.
As a coach you should make it extremely well-known that you are open to conversations about altering training for those who feel they can't go 100% by Tuesday after a tough game Saturday.
I wouldn't advocate taking training off completely but have them do what you think they can and should do with the team then give them options for alternate training away from the main group.
Of course you need to know what training is suitable for them at what times so a strength and conditioning approach is required here.
#2 - RECOVERY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT THAN GAMES
Training and games can both be means of training adaptation but for adaptation (i.e. an increase in a specific capacity) to occur, you can't go all supplements and ice baths and recover too much.
By doing so the body's natural recovery abilities don't get a chance to do their thing and you're essentially recovering off the recovery modalities that you use.
So you recover but do not adapt.
In the end all the work you do, is for nothing.
That is the case for off and pre-season training and in my opinion, the first 4 - 8 games of the season.
I would suggest avoiding "extra" recovery modalities until at least round 9 or so.
Now that we're at the end of the season and we're probably as adapted as we can be, now you can ramp up recovery post-game and training with the aim to simply be as close to 100% for Tue/Thu training and game day Sat as possible.
#3 - NUTRITION
Nutrition is the greatest weak point for local/amateur footballers by a long way and it's amazing how much training some of us will do and vs not having a beer for any 7 day stretch.
The gut is directly linked to the brain (the engine room for decision making) to be ready for the extra demands of finals football, gut health should be a high priority.
Now I'm not saying to try a complete overhaul of your diet but increasing your fruit and veg intake EVERY day of the week will work on 2 fronts:
A - You'll more than double your intake of all the vital minerals and vitamins that fruit and veg contain
and;
B - You'll tend to eat less junk food as it's been replaced by better food.
In the end you'll feel better, sleep better, have more energy for everything (not just football) and maybe drop a kilo or 2 with minimal effort.
#4 - SLEEP MORE
Piggy backing off of point #2, all the ice baths, foam rollers and massages don't matter if you're not using the single greatest recovery modality there is - sleep.
The body and brain both regenerate during high quality sleep.
For the next 4 - 8 weeks try and do 2 things for me:
1 - Go to bed 30mins earlier then usual
and;
2 - Avoid phones and computers 30mins before you go to bed (get yourself a good book)
If you're a take-work-home-with-you-type then you'll need to get your arse in gear to have your work finished in time to match up with your new bedtime.
#5 - PLAYER/COACH SIT DOWN
As far as directly impacting performance on game day plan a sit down with your coach and coaches, plan sit downs with your players on what they can still improve on between now and finals time.
Judge each player on their physical, psychological, tactical and technical performance to find the gaps that will take them forward.
For example you might have a big forward who can take contested marks more then not but often finds himself in the wrong positions which limits his chances of taking clunks and kicking snags.
As a coach it's your duty to be able to determine what is holding him back from displaying his strengths on the field whether it be physical (can't cover enough ground to get to the right positions consistently enough), psychological (aces running drills at training but gasses out during games from being unable to regulate arousal and anxiety that games produce), tactical (finds himself in the wrong positions consistently from a lack of team game plan going forward or not knowing the current plan that is in place) or technical (bodying out opponents, getting hands to the ball but dropping marks etc).
Once the limiting factor/s have been determined then the coach can design drills to work on it.
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