The Warriors have made some defensive changes ahead of their clash with the Brisbane Broncos.
It's time for the Warriors to put words into action.
Their game against the Melbourne Storm last weekend ended with an eyesore of a scoreline for the Kiwi side and its fans. Despite having the better of the opening exchanges and threatening the Melbourne line constantly, two tries inside theopening 24 minutes was all it took for the Warriors to come unhinged.
It started with an opportune try sparked by a break through Josh Addo-Carr and finished by centre Paul Momirovski. By the end of the match, the Storm had run in nine tries to the Warriors' one in a 50-6 romp.
Reflecting on the match ahead of tomorrow night's game against the Brisbane Broncos, Warriors half Kodi Nikorima said the side could not afford to respond like they did when falling behind against Melbourne again.
"That's one thing we spoke about this week – when things go against us, just trying to be a bit more resilient," Nikorima said. "It seems at times now when those sorts of things happen to us we tend to crack, so that's pretty much our focus going into this weekend and moving forward.
"I remember speaking about (Melbourne's first try) afterwards and we sort of brush it straight away; we spoke about it and said 'alright well we can't fix that now that it's happened - so we've got to switch our mindset and think about our next job.'
"I thought we responded the next set, but a couple of sets later they went and scored again. When teams are doing that to you it dents your confidence a bit. We spoke about it at halftime, but that's probably the thing – we kept talking about it but we're just not putting it to action."
Kodi Nikorima makes a run against the Melbourne Storm. Photo / Photosport
Against the Broncos, the Warriors meet a wounded team. With five losses on the trot, fans and the media have been all over the Brisbane outfit – with some players even receiving death threats.
Both teams will be looking to use the other as a platform to turn their season around, and Nikorima, a former Bronco himself, said the Warriors were expecting the Brisbane side to come out with some fire behind them.
"We're going to have to weather the storm for the first 20 odd minutes, then hopefully we can get on top of them with our energy."
After some less than impressive defensive work last weekend, Warriors interim head coach Todd Payten has implemented some new defensive structures ahead of the Broncos clash, looking at the spacing of the defensive line.
Nikorima explained this would likely put a lot more emphasis on the players in the middle of the park, which could prove to be a big test against a Broncos pack who have a reputation for strong ball-running.
Explaining the changes, Nikorima made an example of his own side of the field and how they need to be better.
"It's definitely going to put a lot more emphasis on our middles. On the edges, we keep getting sucked in a bit and I think we got exposed there, especially on my left edge where I was really tight. So it starts with me making sure my width is right and I'm pulling my back rower over so they're not making easy metres or making breaks down the edges."
Warriors: Peta Hiku, David Fusitu'a, Patrick Herbert, Gerard Beale, Ken Maumalo, Kodi Nikorima, Blake Green, Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Wayde Egan, Agnatius Paasi, Jack Murchie, Tohu Harris, Adam Blair. Interchange (from): Chanel Harris-Tavita, Jack Hetherington, Karl Lawton, Isaiah Papali'i, King Vuniyayawa, Adam Pompey.
Broncos: Tesi Niu, Jamayne Issako, Herbie Farnworth, Darius Boyd, Xavier Coates, Anthony Milford, Brodie Croft, Payne Haas, Issac Luke, Thomas Flegler, Alex Glenn, Tevita Pangai Jr, Patrick Carrigan. Interchange (from)Tom Dearden, Rhys Kennedy, Ben Te'o, Corey Oates, Richard Kennar, Jamil Hopoate.
