Column: Joe Vagana

Auckland kick off season on a hot note

By JOE VAGANA

We didn't weigh ourselves before and after last weekend's game against the Melbourne Storm but some of the Aussie club players did and found they'd lost up to four kilos.

We're expecting the heat to play a part in these early games and have been on a strict fluid regime to counter it. Against Melbourne, my jersey was soaking wet and stuck to my back within a couple of minutes. We certainly need those extra breaks for drinks.

It's lucky for the coach we've got plenty of depth this year and Mark [Graham] is able to roll the big forwards on and off. Last year we had to go for inexperienced guys - this season there is a choice to be made.

That puts pressure on everyone to perform; you can't take your place in the team for granted. In the propping department we've got the Rock (Terry Hermansson) pushing us.

The Storm victory was great but we've been keeping our feet on the ground - the guys realise there are 25 more to come. What we need to produce now is some consistency, something the Warriors have yet to manage.

We want to make Ericsson a house of doom for visitors and the crowd support last week went a long way towards helping us do that - it really lifts us. We need to develop some consistency in Australia, secure some away wins.

Tonight's game won't be easy by any means. The Leichhardt fans are among the loudest around and will be giving the ref plenty of advice.

We've got bad memories from our visit last season, Matthew Ridge and cousin Nigel ending in trouble for touching the ref and Tony Tuimavave being suspended after a tackle charge. We'd like to rub those out but they've got plenty of quality players.

The Tigers are lucky to have Jarrod McCracken in after his citings. He's inspirational on the field and it's unlucky for us he's playing. We don't expect him to go any softer because of the citing and are ready for another physical battle up front.

The forwards had a great spirit last week with Scott Coxon and Matt Spence all over the park and our defence awesome all round. We're taking that same positive attitude, backing each other, into this game.