Richie Barnett: Warriors' fresh blood can bring the spark

Glen Fisiiahi will step into Lance Hohaia's shoes at fullback. Photo / Janna Dixon

Opinion

I wasn't surprised Ivan Cleary dropped the axe on his under-performing senior players this week.

In the minds of many, dumping Lance Hohaia, Brett Seymour and Joel Moon will seem like a drastic move. I see it as bold and actually quite calculated. It was pretty obvious something had to be done.

To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if Ivan had been told by management to pull the trigger. If the club doesn't start winning in the next couple of weeks their support will fall away and that becomes an issue financially.

The crowd of under 12,000 for the Dragons match was already poor. It just shows what a couple of bad performances can do. So change had to come and, to me, it's positive change.

Glen Fisiiahi coming in at fullback excites me. Hohaia has been a fantastic servant for the club but has been poor so far this season. Fish has genuine pace that can make the difference between scoring and not scoring.

It's pretty clear that without Manu Vatuvei in the team the Warriors need some speed at the back to kickstart their sets and ignite the attack.

Fish is the sort of player who can make breaks and get them on the front foot straight away. I know he had a tough debut against the Eels, but he is a pretty level-headed kid and I think he can bounce back.

Hohaia has also had a few blips this season, but I can see him working his way back into the side.

Fullback is a tough job. No matter how good you are you will drop a kick at some stage. The key is to clear the mistake out of your mind and make sure you catch the next one.

The ability to do that, to banish the negative thoughts and just concentrate on what is coming next, is what separates the really good players from the rest.

I'm also pretty happy to see Feleti Mateo get a chance a five-eighths.

We saw last week he is the sort of player who can make things happen. He's very dangerous with the ball in hand and the sort of creativity he can provide has been sadly lacking this season.

The team has been going through the motions on attack. Mateo seeing more ball should change that.

The second row combination of Lewis Brown and Ukuma Ta'ai looks encouraging. Brown isn't the sort of player to just wait for things to happen. He'll get into dummy half and make something happen, which is exactly what is needed.

Ta'ai seems to have it all. He can break the line, offload and score tries. But he is in and out of the side a lot. That would suggest there are still holes in his game and the club feels he needs game time in the Vulcans to help him mature.

With Ta'ai in the side, Michael Luck's job will be to tidy up any holes and defensive misreads, which suits him perfectly. I've got no problems with Simon Mannering moving into the centres.

He runs great lines and you know he will cart the ball up and make great yardage on the third or fourth tackle. That will really help out with the go-forward and will be needed against the Sharks.

As a league follower it is always nice to see a side that has come last or thereabouts turn it around the following season and show some very positive signs. The Sharks pack is outstanding.

Jeremy Smith seems to have had a massive impact on the club. Paul Gallen and Anthony Tupou were already very good but Smith has added another dimension. That back row is one of the toughest in the competition, not to mention two props Irate as State of Origin quality.

There is now an air of confidence in the Cronulla side that has filtered through to the backs. Albert Kelly has always had the talent, but now he is playing some really good football, and out wide they have got the likes of Colin Best who can break the line.

It sets up a great clash against a Warriors side that should really be boosted by the changes. There should be some real energy in the Warriors this week. The new blood should create a spark. When you get that, things start to fall into place.

You start to work a bit harder, there is positivity in your mind and things just start to happen. It's not that they haven't been trying for the first three games of 2011 - they've probably been trying too hard and it has just gone horribly wrong.

But things can change quickly. This game could be the turning point of the season.