New Zealand Warriors captain Steve Price slammed some of his teammates' attitudes as they return to Auckland to try and get their lurching National Rugby League (NRL) season back on track.
The Warriors headed home smarting from a 12-38 Canberra Stadium hiding from the Raiders who ended their own four-match
losing streak.
Now it's the Warriors who are slumping, with yesterday's lacklustre defeat making it just one victory from their past seven matches as they drop anchor in the lower half of the points table.
Benji Marshall's Wests Tigers - fresh from narrow defeats to Souths and Brisbane - loom next in Auckland on Sunday before the Warriors cross the Tasman again to face the struggling Sharks.
Price, who scored his first try of the season in Canberra, won't be at Mt Smart Stadium. A near certain State of Origin selection for Queensland, he will join his teammates in camp this week.
He admitted it wasn't ideal to be leaving at a critical stage of the Warriors' season, and voiced concern over their defence which conceded a combined 72 points to the Cowboys and Raiders.
"Since the bye we've given up 30-plus points twice, whereas before that we were averaging 12-14 points defensively so it's obviously attitude that's letting us down," Price said.
"We're putting pressure on ourselves by not controlling the footy.
"We built a bit of pressure, we came back into the game, then we went away from it again.
"We're not far off it, we've just got to all get on the same page on the same day.
"There's not too much more time, we go home this week and preparation begins now. We've got to bounce back immediately." Tries from Price and Simon Mannering saw the Warriors lead 12-10 but Raiders five-eighth Terry Campese's try reclaimed the lead before halftime. The hosts, shifting and offloading the ball with confidence, then rattled up four second half tries and kept the Warriors scoreless.
Price also bemoaned discipline, with penalties late in the Raiders' tackle count giving them back to back sets and leading to at least three tries.
Coach Ivan Cleary said his players' confidence had clearly taken a hit and there would be more changes this week as "it certainly wasn't working" in Canberra.
But he backed his Warriors to flick a switch as they battle with their now-customary mid-season slump.
A year ago they lost seven from nine between rounds six and 15 before storming home to reach the last four.
"You've just got to stick together and keep working hard and believe in yourselves. That's not easy but that's part of the trick," Cleary said.
"There's no finger-pointing or blaming anybody else. They've got to look at themselves and work hard and lift when it really counts."
- NZPA
Warriors skipper Steve Price says the side's attitude is letting them down. Photo / Getty Images
New Zealand Warriors captain Steve Price slammed some of his teammates' attitudes as they return to Auckland to try and get their lurching National Rugby League (NRL) season back on track.
The Warriors headed home smarting from a 12-38 Canberra Stadium hiding from the Raiders who ended their own four-match
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