NRL: Stuttering Warriors refusing to panic

Inspirational Warriors captain Simon Mannering. Photo / Getty Images

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary does not seem the type to suffer nightmares. He prefers logic and analysis over emotion and flamboyance; his head rules rather than his heart; and he has the demeanour of an Easter Island statue in the coach's box, during even the tightest of games.

Yet Cleary has hinted that sleeping over the next three weeks might result in some tossing and turning followed by a dose of the cold sweats at 3am.

The source of the angst is how the Warriors cope over the next fortnight - and when they return from the bye. After last night's tough task against North Queensland in Townsville, they return home to face Melbourne - second on the table heading into this round.

Points are paramount to maintaining momentum before the Warriors get a guaranteed two points from the round 17 bye. Their five matches before the last bye (on May 27-29; round 12) resulted in five wins. This time they've had two losses with two matches to play (including against the Cowboys, played too late for this edition).

That includes the 13-6 loss to the Roosters and the Tigers' 26-22 comeback last weekend. When they come out of the bye this time, the Warriors have matches against the Titans, the Bulldogs, the Rabbitohs, the Raiders and the Broncos. There are no easy fixtures - underlining what an important period this is for the club.

Cleary chuckles when it is suggested his famed composure precludes nightmares about the Warriors' losing their grip on a top eight spot.

"No, I do - take the situation in the Tigers match last week. Those sorts of things happen sometimes but hopefully not often. At least we've won a few like that where you look back and think, 'how did we do that?'. If you look closely at a lot of our wins, you would probably think we were a bit lucky, so it's important when we lose that we don't delve too deeply either.

"[The Tigers loss] was hard to take but there's a lesson that anything can happen in a game with enough possession, territory and momentum in the last 20 minutes."

Cleary insists playing the top teams like the Cowboys and the Storm before the bye will give a better indication of where they're at.

"Consistency gives you the foundation to win games, we've been doing that most of the season."

Captain Simon Mannering refuses to panic: "Losses hurt, especially like last weekend against the Tigers but you can't get too negative after playing so well for the majority of the game. Obviously there are some areas to work on, like the last 20 minutes defensively, which had been a strength for a couple of months. It makes the lead-up to the bye important, but not season-defining.

Heading into the Cowboys match the Warriors had a casualty list led by Micheal Luck, Brett Seymour, Sam Rapira and Jerome Ropati. The loss of Luck's tackling and endurance qualities seem to have hurt most.

"He does so many things people are unaware of," Mannering says. "Everyone knows how much we have to lift on defence over the next few weeks."

Cleary says it has become a team responsibility rather than that of replacement lock Elijah Taylor.

"There is no glossing over Luck being a big loss but it's a case of everyone adding a bit of 'Lucky' to their game. Lots of teams regularly make those sorts of adjustments."

The other player bearing more responsibility over the next fortnight - especially mentoring Shaun Johnson in Seymour's absence - is five-eighth James Maloney.

"It's difficult because in the halves you want as much time as possible together so I've been chatting more with Shaun to figure out what he wants to do. We need a lift with the last couple of results and he's got the talent to do it.

"Ivan's given me more responsibility since Buster's gone. He gets us around the park well so we're missing that, and it means there is more on my shoulders."

Despite Johnson's promising entrance - and the view he will be the preferred halfback next year - Mannering says Seymour is needed.

"He's just about there. We've missed his experience."