Warriors: One half won't define our season

In the aftermath of last weekend's spectacular second-half collapse against the Penrith Panthers, the Warriors have said they are determined to make sure it doesn't have a lingering effect on their 2017 campaign.

Leading 28-6 at the break, the Kiwi side gave up five tries in the second 40 minutes to lose 36-28 at Pepper Stadium, and now sit four spots outside of the top eight heading into Round 11.

But while acknowledging the disappointing nature of the performance, coach Stephen Kearney said he was focussed on moving on quickly ahead of hosting the St George Illawarra Dragons at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on Friday night.

"I'm not going to let 33 minutes [take away from] the work we have done the last six or seven games," Kearney said.

"We let ourselves down with a second half like we did, so it's a matter of taking the lesson, making sure we learn from that and move forward.

"We are playing on Friday night against the Dragons, we addressed that this morning in terms of the review and we have moved forward towards preparation for the Dragons.

"It's a matter of how we respond to it, and that's my point to the group.

"It happens in sport and it's making sure that we don't let that happen again." 

‌Veteran centre Blake Ayshford told NRL.com the leadership group drove the mid-week video review session, with Kearney not needing to say much to get the point across.

"It was pretty brutally honest, we spoke some truths about what happened on the weekend and that was it," Ayshford said.

"The players did a lot of the talking in that meeting. All the boys knew what happened and where it went wrong.

"He (Kearney) spoke about watching it, getting it done then putting it in the bag and throwing it away. There's not much we can do about it now.

"We tried to wipe it away, I suppose there is not too much point in dwelling on it because we have to play again in three days."

Meanwhile the Warriors will be without the services of injured representative trio Simon Mannering, Manu Vatuvei and Solomone Kata for the trip to Hamilton.

Mannering withdrew from the squad prior to the Panthers clash with a hamstring complaint, while veteran wing Vatuvei suffered a calf injury in the captain's run a day before the Round 11 match.

"They won't be ready this week, but there is every chance they will be ready for the following week," Kearney said.

"There will be a couple of little adjustments [to the side] … but it won't be wholesale changes."

 

Photo: NRL (The Warriors during their second-half collapse against the Panthers in Round 10).