NRL: Maloney set to 'slug it out' with Dragons

Lewis Brown of the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

Forget about thrills, both sides will be more concerned with eliminating the spills when the winless Warriors face the stumbling St George Illawarra Dragons at Mt Smart Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

The defending premier Dragons aren't exactly known for a fun-filled approach at the best of times. And they'll be looking to take their suffocating brand of conservatism to new levels in the wake of Monday night's sloppy, surprising loss to Cronulla.

"Our grinding style of football is a bit wayward at the moment," Dragons and Kiwis hooker Nathan Fien admitted. "We are not completing the sets that we did last year and we are putting ourselves under pressure. We have got a lot of work to do."

Ditto a Warriors side that fumbled its way to an ugly defeat against the Tigers last Saturday night. With any repeat of that shoddy ball-handling certain to be punished by the Dragons, the Warriors will also be in safety-first mode as they return to Mt Smart for the first time this season.

"A lot of their game is based on waiting for the other side to self-destruct," returning five-eighths James Maloney said. "We can't have that happen. I don't think we have to throw anything fancy at them. They don't seem to throw a lot at us - just simple, basic structures, but they complete their sets and play out the 80 minutes. We just have to get into a grind with them and slug it out right to the last minute."

Maloney's return from a one-match suspension should be a cure for many of the ills that afflicted the Warriors against the Tigers. Coach Ivan Cleary described that effort as "rudderless", laying much of the blame squarely at the feet of the misfiring halves.

"Clearly we were a team where everybody wasn't necessarily doing their job how they should have been," said Cleary.

Isaac John's failure to adequately fill Maloney's boots was a major part of the problem, however senior halfback Brett Seymour has been far from his best so far this season - his 12 missed tackles are the fourth most in the NRL.

The injury problems are stacking up for the Dragons, with senior prop Michael Weyman joining hooker Dean Young on the sidelines. Backrower Beau Scott is suspended and there is also a question over skipper Ben Hornby. The halfback reportedly sent a text to a Sydney newspaper saying he was fit to play, but young Kiwi Kyle Stanley has trained in his place this week.

Prop David Gower, who has just 20 minutes NRL experience with Wests Tigers in 2009, will take Weyman's spot in the front row, while Jack Bosden and Adam Cuthbertson are in the frame to replace Scott.

Former hard man turned pundit Mark Geyer predicted the Dragons would struggle to make the top eight in the wake of the Sharks defeat. That appears an awfully premature prediction, however Fien conceded the Sharks had shown they were fallible.

"Cronulla showed that if you bring intensity and spirit to your footy game you are going to give yourself a chance to win," Fien said. "That's what we were definitely lacking.

"[Auckland] is a not an easy place to win a footy game and the way they have started the year 0-2 they are going to be a desperate side - very much like the Sharks were and they out-enthused us. So we are going to have to bring a bit more intensity to the match.

"If we go over there with the attitude that we had on Monday night or we are off five or 10 per cent like we have been at the start of this season we are going to get rolled. We are going to have to step it up and play a lot better than we have done in the first two rounds."

The Warriors, too, know a serious improvement is required. A third loss might not be fatal, but another substandard performance would be cause for some significant concerns.

"I'm more focused on delivering a performance we can be proud of, especially at home," Cleary said.

"If we can do that often enough we'll be fine."