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SYDNEY - New Zealand Warriors coach Ivan Cleary insists Manu Vatuvei will recover from his own personal league horror show.
There's other more pressing concerns for Cleary after his side were hammered 30-6 by Parramatta for a fourth straight National Rugby League (NRL) loss here last night.
Pressured
into too much defending, and with their attack struggling, Cleary needs to find solutions fast as his team slipped from the top-eight for the first time in 2007 with the unpredictable Bulldogs looming in Auckland on Sunday.
Vatuvei, the Kiwis winger, couldn't find the dressing room fast enough after a night every footballer dreads. His errors led to three of the Eels' five tries, with the hosts targeting his shaky hands through the accurate boot of playmaker Tim Smith.
Cleary said dragging the gentle giant from the field early wasn't an option and he quickly tired of questions about it.
"He wasn't Robinson Crusoe, unfortunately," Cleary said.
"We have a lot of faith in him. I don't really want to talk about Manu, it wasn't his night tonight but he bounces back pretty well and I'm sure he will this time as well."
There was even sympathy from their opponents.
Vatuvei's Kiwis teammate and Parramatta captain Nathan Cayless, who crossed for the Eels' final try, said it was always tough to see such a meltdown.
"Everyone can make mistakes at the best of times, it's about him keeping his head up. There's always a game of footy next week. He'll be all right, he's a good player."
But will the Warriors be all right?
It was more of the same last night as they only trailed 6-12 at halftime but made 188 tackles in the first half, enough to sap their energy reserves.
Then the simple errors kicked in and, aside from a few sparks from five-eighth Jerome Ropati there was very little to trouble the Eels' defence. The hard-toiling Logan Swann scored their only try from a spilled Michael Witt bomb.
Cleary, who admitted personnel changes could loom, at least retained a sense of humour.
"We racked up over 400 tackles again. Most of their tries came from kicks so we're defending all right."
All told, the Warriors made 412 tackles according to NRL statistics, with workhorse Micheal Luck clocking up 49 and captain Steve Price 45. Any more than 300 in a match usually sounds the alarm bells.
The Eels replaced the Warriors in the top-eight with their sixth win of the season, Smith pulling the strings, State of Origin wing Jarryd Hayne scoring a brilliant solo try and tough benchmen Fuifui Moimoi and Weller Hauraki doing some damage.
Price, fresh from a huge State of Origin performance for Queensland, said it was up to individuals to smarten up.
"It's really disappointing, you can't powder-coat it. Penalties, dropped balls, and it has been for the past four weeks.
"There's 17 guys who turn up every week are the only ones who can change it, the guy beside me (Cleary) can't do anything about it. It's the guys on the field at the time."
Price couldn't fault their preparation and said his players weren't throwing in the towel.
"They're probably the easiest 30 points Parramatta have scored this year. They didn't really have to earn too many of them."
- NZPA