Richie Barnett: Forwards need to get in the grind

One change I'd consider making is switching Simon Mannering to the left side where he can help look after Shaun Johnson. Photo / Getty Images

Pack must go back to basics, take control and hold the ball so the Warriors have go-forward in attack.

Not once this season have the Warriors managed a completion rate above 70 per cent. That's atrocious. The best they've managed was 68 per cent against the Titans. Guess what? The Warriors won.

Retaining and respecting the ball is the key to turning things around. Maybe it's time to do away with a game plan they are struggling to implement and go back to basics.

That means the forwards rolling their sleeves up and running with purpose and gaining some yards. That allows the halves to get better and deeper kicks in and the rest of the team to show some energy in the chase.

That's where you are going to win the game. You are not going to win a game by taking the easy way out. At times against the Raiders it looked like they wanted to shy away from the hard graft. They really need to find some energy and enthusiasm.

I have been in teams when we've lacked energy. We couldn't pinpoint what was causing it but we had to find the answer real quick. Enthusiasm can iron out a lot of the other things that happen in a game - chasing harder, running harder, covering when you don't need to cover - all those little things make a huge difference. You can't win yourself out of trouble, you've got to build your way out of it and it all starts with lifting the enthusiasm levels.

That's hard to do when you are coughing the ball up so often. Opposition teams perceive the Warriors as a disaster at the start of games and they are heading into matches looking to get the jump on them straight away. They are turning up ready to play football, knowing the chances are the Warriors won't be. The only way to change that perception is to play tough football and grind away. If they are going to cough up the ball, they need to make sure they do it in the opposition half. The hardest yards in the game are coming out of your own half and to date the Warriors have been doing plenty while their opponents haven't.

It's really simple stuff. It's about territory and winning that forward battle. On Sunday the forwards have another chance to show the public that they are prepared to roll up their sleeves and prove they are a class outfit against the Rabbitohs. They are performing well below their own expectations and they need to step up.

One change I'd consider making is switching Simon Mannering to the left side where he can help look after Shaun Johnson. Mannering is a hugely reassuring presence and that tactic worked pretty well last year. Johnson's not actually a bad tackler but he does make bad reads, something Mannering's experience and communication could help eliminate.

The left side has been under huge pressure this season and that will continue tomorrow. Big Souths forward Dave Taylor thunders down that side and Adam Reynolds targets it with his kicks. Fullback Greg Inglis will also wrap around and hit that side and if he gets the ball in space he is pretty much impossible to stop.

Again, though, it all comes down to ball control. If you're not controlling the ball then any issues you have in defence become magnified.

Manu Vatuvei has been having a tough time but we know he will bounce back. He can inspire players around him. That's what's required.