KEY POINTS:
Centre Brent Tate is preparing to face a different type of Brisbane Bronco side on Saturday to those he played with over seven National Rugby League (NRL) seasons.
Tate will square up against his former club for the first time on when the New Zealand Warriors host the Broncos.
While he might be able to pass on some inside information to his teammates, it would be limited by the changes in Brisbane's personnel and tactical style.
Gone were the likes of props Shane Webcke (retired) and Petro Civoniceva (skippering Penrith), and second rower Brad Thorn (back with the All Blacks).
"I can offer some advice, but they're playing a completely different brand of footy this year," Tate said.
"We had the likes of Thorn, Webcke and Civoniceva and we used to play a real forward-based power game.
"This year, they're throwing the ball around a lot more and their forwards are probably a little more mobile."
On a personal note, Tate said his buildup for the Broncos, for whom he made 114 appearances, would be no different than for any other NRL fixture.
"It's a game I want to win and it's a game we need to win," the Kangaroos and Queensland representative said.
"We just need to concentrate on ourselves. If we can play with the same intensity as we did against Melbourne, we're going to be right in the contest at the end of it."
The Melbourne match was two weekends ago, when the Warriors caused a major upset by downing the reigning premiers 8-6 at a wet and cold Mt Smart Stadium.
Their good work against the Storm was undone by their failure to back up with a win over struggling South Sydney last weekend to climb into the top eight.
Three dropped balls with the tryline open proved expensive against the Rabbitohs, who completed the season double over the Warriors by holding out for an 18-16 result in Sydney.
While that defeat was a huge disappointment, Tate felt the Warriors had not performed too badly.
They had created opportunities, and it was probably just a lack of concentration that led to their failure to finish them off.
"We had our chances to win the game and unfortunately we didn't, and that was costly at the end of the day," he said.
"But it doesn't really change things too much in the context of our season. We have to win every game to give ourselves every chance."
After a slow start to his first campaign with the Warriors, when he was coming back from a knee reconstruction, Tate has been hitting his straps, with his attacking thrusts out wide a feature.
Against Brisbane, it will be fullback Wade McKinnon's turn to return from knee surgery, and Tate cautioned against expecting too much too early from one of the Warriors' stars of last year.
"You can't expect him to come back and do what he was doing, because it does take a little while," he said.
"But he's a hell of a competitor and he will be out there doing his best and competing in every play. It's all we can ask of him."
Tate said McKinnon's availability for his first NRL appearance of 2008 had been a lift for the squad.
With winger Manu Vatuvei back last week from a leg injury, it meant coach Ivan Cleary had a full squad to pick from for the first time this season.
- NZPA
