Rugby League: Lesson learned says Warriors coach

By PETER JESSUP

There is no panic at the Warriors headquarters after the 44-0 loss to the Sydney Roosters, and no loss of belief in their ability to compete at finals time.

Instead, the coaching staff are looking at the positive side of the defeat - they got taught a lesson.

"In all the losses we've had, things have happened that have contributed to our downfall, some things you didn't expect," coach Daniel Anderson said.

The way the Roosters came off the blocks in defence was one, he felt, and the Warriors responded with a poor kicking game.

"We've had a word with Stacey [Jones], Ivan [Cleary] and P. J. [Marsh] about it," Anderson said. "We basically found Luke Phillips' chest every time. We never made them work for it."

That failing was not all down to the Roosters' forward dominance, he said. "We had times to pick them out and we didn't."

Jones had an excuse. The halfback had carried a groin strain all week and did not kick in training, contributing to his lack of accuracy.

Bar that, Anderson said, the Warriors would simply work on the basics - "work hard and work smart."

He was wary of overtraining them at this stage. Most skills and techniques had been learned, although some had to be re-drilled.

"We trained hard last week and I don't think we were that bad in the game. Our execution was off, we were somewhat lacking in composure, we hadn't played in the rain for a while and they played that better than we did."

This weekend they take on the Northern Eagles at Manly. The Brookvale Oval is a tight cauldron and sure to be packed with a crowd revived by the Lazarus act of their old team.

There will also be a swag of Kiwis there, given their liking for the northern beaches.

Changes will be made to the team. Ali Lauiti'iti will have an MRI scan by tomorrow to confirm the extent of his knee injury and the length of recovery time, but a medical examination yesterday changed nothing from an early report that suggested a month off.

Flying wing Justin Murphy, who was in brilliant form before his own knee problem, is available for selection, as is centre Vince Anderson, who seemed favoured for his defence before an injury break.

Anderson said he would give both a run this weekend or next, against the Wests Tigers at Ericsson.

"They haven't played for three weeks and if we lose someone in the first week of the finals they won't have played for six weeks. It's important they get some touch and timing back."

The Eagles are likely to name all but one of the team who bashed Parramatta, but were short on attack and went down 19-6 on Sunday.

The omission is Jamie Goddard, who also has a knee injury in a season rife with them.

Aged 30 and unsigned for next year, the hooker's NRL future is in doubt.

Eels coach Brian Smith said after Sunday's game that he always felt there was a spy in the camp before playing the Eagles because their coach Peter Sharp used to work under him before getting his own team. So did Anderson, and Sharp will doubtless feel he can upset his applecart, too.

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The Bulldogs suspended halfback Darrell Trindall from all further association with the club after an incident at the Canterbury Leagues Club early yesterday.

Police were called to Belmore after reports of an altercation, and ambulance officers treated a 36-year-old woman for head injuries before she was taken to hospital.

A short time later a 30-year-old Botany man was stopped by police, breath-tested and arrested for drink driving.

He was later issued with a summons to appear at Burwood Court next month.

The Bulldogs have declined to comment further.

Trindall joined the club last season from England after a falling-out with officials at Super League club St Helens. He helped the Sydney club to the finals last year, but lost his spot this season to Brent Sherwin and has made only four first-grade appearances.

But he was back in the spotlight last week after being named among a group of Bulldogs players who were receiving payments from the club outside the salary cap.

The Bulldogs were subsequently docked 37 points and fined A$500,000 ($588,000) by the NRL after investigations revealed the club had breached the cap by more than A$1 million over the past two seasons.

The Bulldogs are now at the bottom of the ladder.