KEY POINTS:
The Warriors head into the run for the top-eight relatively unscathed in terms of injury, only the tireless workhorse Micheal Luck absent from their first-choice team and the one which gave the Broncos a lesson in how to play tight football last weekend.
If we have a look
at the Warriors' early-season form, they were at their worst when without their best and most senior players through injury or representative commitments. With a nearly full complement on board and with players such as Manu Vatuvei and Wade McKinnon getting a couple of games under their belt, they are perfectly poised for the run home.
I have no doubt that both the team and the coaching staff will be wondering how they lost twice to South Sydney in the space of a month. They were both games the Warriors should have won and, had they won them, the Warriors would now be sitting pretty, comfortably within the play-off eight, looking for a shot at the top four and a home playoff to start the finals series.
If they do get to the top eight this season they probably do not have enough firepower to go all the way to the grand final but if they remain injury free they are certainly good enough to finish as high as three.
How they managed to leak so many points early in the season is beyond me and right now it is as if we are looking at a different team.
Surely, guys, it would be a lot simpler for everyone if you showed some consistency all season, but I guess that's a reflection of losing senior players like Steve Price and Ruben Wiki, Wade McKinnon and Brent Tate to injury and State of Origin.
Of the teams that the Warriors have left to play, the two that look the shakiest are the Panthers and the Dragons - the Panthers after their drubbing in Canberra last weekend and the Dragons because they also struggle for consistency.
* For those of us league aficionados who would like to honour one of the greatest players we've ever had in our code there is a luncheon for Ruben Wiki organised by and featuring the Mad Butcher Peter Leitch as Master of Ceremonies. The speakers are Frank Endacott, Stacey Jones and Steve Price.
I can say from experience that both the Butcher and Steve Price alone are worth three times the entry price. Ring Juanita at the New Zealand Rugby League for tickets on (09) 525-5592.