League: Warriors bounce ideas to break away-win NRL hoodoo

A dejected Manu Vatuvei after last year's round five loss by the Warriors against the Sharks. Photo / Getty Images

The Warriors want to lift their game across the Tasman this year - and have called on the advice of the New Zealand Breakers to help them do it.

The Auckland club, who kick off their NRL season next Saturday in Newcastle, have often struggled to perform in Australia.

There have been good years (they managed eight wins outside Auckland in 2002, 2003 and 2011) but those seasons have been historically dwarfed by the bad, going right back to 1997 when the team recorded just one win away from Mt Smart.

It's become a problem again recently. Since making the grand final in 2011, the Warriors have won just 12 away matches from 38 attempts (32 per cent). And it's not just the scoreline. Some of the most dispiriting performances in recent seasons have come when far from home.

In 2012, there were thumpings by the Raiders (32-12), Cowboys (52-12) and Dragons (38-6).

In 2013, there was the 62-6 massacre at the hands of Penrith, an opening-day 40-10 defeat at Parramatta Stadium and a meek last-round loss at Wollongong (19-10) when a finals spot was still up for grabs.

Last year, there were impressive results in Townsville (20-16), Canberra (54-18) and Melbourne (16-10) but also unfortunate lapses at the hands of Cronulla (37-6), St George (20-10) and Brisbane (28-22). The coup de grace was round 26, when the team failed to fire a shot at Penrith (22-6) and limped out of top-eight contention.

Their travel demands are an undeniable burden that no other NRL club carries - the Sydney clubs spend most of their seasons within the city limits - but there's a feeling the Warriors need to cope better. That's especially so this season, when they start in Newcastle and Canberra and three of their last four matches are in Australia.

"Winning away from home is critical if you want to be successful, especially given the fact that all of the finals are away generally," Warriors coach Andrew McFadden said. "But it's about performance first. Focus on the performance then we will get the results."

McFadden has recently consulted with the brains trust at the Breakers, who have a punishing schedule with regular marathon trips to outposts like Cairns and Perth but often perform better than their league, rugby, netball and football counterparts.

"We heard about their philosophy," said McFadden. "They believe in spending the least amount of time away from home as possible." The two sports have differing physical demands, but McFadden still wants to take a leaf out of the Breakers' play book.

"We will vary our approach [this season]," said McFadden. "When we can, on our shorter legs - we will go the day before, get the job done and get out. We have also done a lot of work in terms of our preparation. We need to get that right so we can't use travel as an excuse for a lack of performance."