Warriors head coach Stacey Jones with players during a training session. Photo / Photosport
Warriors head coach Stacey Jones with players during a training session. Photo / Photosport
Warriors coach Stacey Jones is taking a back to basics approach in an attempt to arrest their ominous slide down the NRL ladder.
The Auckland club have tasted victory in just one of their last 12 matches, a run that has put them in danger of finishing bottom of theNRL table for the first time in their history.
After decent efforts in defeats against Parramatta, Canberra and Melbourne, the Warriors fell away completely last Saturday against the Rabbitohs, shipping six tries in the first half alone.
It was a jarring display, the kind that is hard to recover from.
They desperately need a result against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Friday, otherwise the season could unravel completely, with away matches against Penrith and the Cowboys to follow.
Jones isn't thinking too far ahead – he can't afford to – and is solely focussed on making sure his squad turn up to play, after the "embarrassing" no-show against South Sydney.
With another minimal turnaround, sessions have been kept "short and sharp", with no major tweaks.
"We're not going to change any structure," said Jones. "It's got to be a shift in our intensity to play the game at a high level."
While it looks like the Warriors have plenty to fix, it's more about getting minds right.
Jones had noticed a slump in training off the back of the Storm game and the associated travel, which was borne out last Saturday and there can be no repeat this week.
"To try and change the mindset is trying to get them to turn up ready to go," said Jones. "Trying to freshen them up. Long days in front of the video or out on the field – even if you feel like doing it - is not going to help this group right now. It's making sure they are ready to go and running out onto the field with the right attitude."
Tohu Harris during a Warriors training session. Photo / Photosport
Being back in front of a Mt Smart crowd will help – as shown in the strong efforts against the Tigers and Storm – but Jones admitted that factor alone "wasn't going to turn things around for us".
Instead, it has to come from within, if the players can rediscover the desire and energy that have shown on occasions this season.
Captain Tohu Harris agreed that it all starts with attitude and putting effort into the "little areas".
There haven't been any discussions about the wooden spoon threat, with the Warriors (12 points) only just ahead of the Tigers (10) and Titans (8).
The Tigers have shown promising signs in recent weeks, while the Titans have a slightly easier run home than the Warriors and come to Mt Smart for the final round.
"Personally, I haven't been thinking about our position on the table," said Harris. "I just want to try and win each game and we didn't give ourselves any chance at all last week. So this week, we've got a lot of work to give ourselves a chance. That's all my focus is on."
Jones has shuffled the pack again, reverting to Wayde Egan at hooker and Euan Aitken in the second row, in a move to solidify their defence.
Chanel Harris-Tavita took part in some of Thursday's session and could be back as early as next week, after the MCL strain suffered against Melbourne, while prop Ben Murdoch-Masila is on track to return before the end of the season.
The Bulldogs had a wretched start to 2022, with just two wins from their first 13 matches.
But they have turned a corner under coach Mick Potter in the last two months. They have beaten the Eels, Tigers, Titans and Knights and lost tight contests against Cronulla and South Sydney and will start as deserved favourites on Friday.
"They have been playing some really good footy and are probably the most improved team this year," said Egan. "So they are dangerous, but I see no reason why we can't beat them. Last week was really disappointing but our form before that was quite good so we'll try and reclaim a bit of that and go from there."
