KEY POINTS:
The pressure is now on the Warriors to perform today against the Tigers after two narrow defeats in a row.
The visitors go into this fixture as favourites and rightly so despite the absence of their superstar Benji Marshall. Coach Tim Sheens is an old campaigner and has
proven through longevity that experience is vital when trying to lift a team week after week, especially when it is not laden with the superstars that some teams are able to select.
This young and enthusiastic Tigers team display urgency in everything they do, from kickoff to the final whistle. I enjoy nothing more than viewing a team with such drive in their play - as it creates an atmosphere that is hard for an opposition to play against.
No matter how much pressure you can build in a game, if the other team is of a mind to never give up, then you are in for a hard day at the office. Today is one of those days for the Warriors.
The experienced players of the home team will need to stand and deliver today if there is to be any chance of winning. A win is essential if they are to carry through the rest of the season a presence of 'contender' and not 'pretender'.
A loss today will damage the mental framework of a team that lack the killer instinct required to put teams away when they have dominance. That is what has happened over the last fortnight.
In their two previous encounters, the Warriors have had control of the games and let both slip. Not because of the lack of physical presence but because they currently lack the mental ability to put the opposition under water, place a foot on their head and drown them.
Establishing this type of culture within a team will breed success within this franchise as it is really the only ingredient missing within a club that has the physical ability to pummel opposition teams.
I have witnessed more consistency in how this Warriors team perform and, despite the latest losses, I still have confidence in their ability to win games.
But this club need to develop the art of killing off teams once they have the ascendancy and this will in time create the culture that has seen the great teams of the past produce a 'dynasty'.
Brisbane was the last club to have an era of dominance in the competition and before them it was St George in the 50s and 60s, Souths in the 70s, the Eels and Bulldogs in the 80s and just before the Broncos were the Raiders. This team had Mal Meninga, Glenn Lazarus, Laurie Daley, Bradley Clyde, Gary Belcher and the Walters brothers - to name a few - and had a presence about them generated from within.
You knew you were up against a team that were never going to give up. The coach of Canberra at the time was today's opposition coach - Sheens.