Warriors v Storm: Three things we learned

Three things we learned from Warriors' 20-14 defeat to the Storm on Tuesday night.

Warriors have got to play for 80 minutes

The Warriors had the better of the Storm for an hour of the game but faded a little in the final quarter to let it slip. The Warriors halves maybe didn't quite get it right in the final 10 minutes while their opponents - future immortals Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk - were able to produce plays that closed out the game. It is a big step forward from the early weeks of the competition but Stephen Kearney's men have got to get a harder edge about them if they are to play in the big games at the end of the year. The effort and quality was there for much of the game but if you lift off against good quality opposition that will count for little.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona is who the Warriors need

Giant Storm forward Asofa-Solomona showcased why he should be well up the Warriors free agent target list with a powerful display in the Anzac Day game. NAS, who hails from Wellington, was a real handful whenever he touched the ball and he might have the skillset the Warriors lack at present. The forwards stood up to a good Melbourne pack but if they had an enforcer like Asofa-Solomona to set the tone at the start of a set maybe they could have had more success. He's off-contract at the end of the year and there have been whispers about Auckland being a potential destination.

The Warriors need some speed out wide

The Storm scored two key second half tries last night where they used the speed of their wingers to pry open a scoring chance. They kicked in behind for Suliasi Vunivalu on the right and then Josh Addo-Carr used his explosive speed to get past the Warriors cover defense to score a vital try. The Warriors don't have that speed at present. They are using big, powerful wingers to make up for an under-strength forward pack but a goal for the next few months should be about adding some finishing ability to their outside backs roster in 2018.