"Our preparation was good this week but, somehow, we really lacked energy," said coach Andrew McFadden. "We fell off the things we have been doing well, some of our standards, and that was the result of it. We scored 28 points and that should be enough at home, but there are some things that were very disappointing."
Their defence was the main area of disappointment. The right edge has been an issue all season and proved problematic once again, but the Titans' four-try blitz found holes all over the field.
The Warriors have now conceded the most points in the competition and the next fortnight must be spent making amendments, although a number of key players will be away with the Kiwis.
"It's our defence that we really need to focus on at the moment," McFadden said. "We are just leaking too many points, easy points, and when you leak easy points the opposition feel that."
The chief cause of those leaks appeared yesterday to be in the players' heads, with captain Simon Mannering acknowledging a breakdown that seemed more mental than physical.
"We had more than enough opportunities with the footy but defensively there was definitely a big lapse in that 20 minutes after halftime," Mannering said. "I guess with basic mishaps, walking when we shouldn't have been, there were tries we probably could have stopped. But we were just lacking a bit of urgency."
That state of mind is typical of the Warriors' season, with previous defeats arriving as a result of too many errors or too few completed sets. The twin loss of Ryan Hoffman (knocked out) and Jacob Lillyman (leg) hardly helped, with the timing of the pair's substitution coinciding with the slip.
"We lacked a bit of energy and then you throw more adversity in there, we really fell away and they put on some points pretty quickly," McFadden said. "That hasn't been typical of our performances. They've generally been with lots of effort and spirited, but we fell away from that."
That effort will be sought on the training ground by those who remain in Auckland, with the representative round allowing an additional week of tweaks before back-to-back trips to the Sharks and the Eels, two sides with similar positions on the ladder.
"It probably is a good time [for the break]," McFadden said. "Hopefully we get through the rep round unscathed but we're going to have to bounce back. The next two games we've got two away games, so it's going to be a critical period for us."
Warriors 28 (Fusitua, Matulino, Wright, Kata, Thompson tries; Johnson 4 cons)
Titans 32 (Elgey 2, Don, Moseley, Roberts, James tries; Sezer 4 cons)
HT: 18-12
