Green confronts Warriors’ woes

Warriors halfback Blake Green says they have to move forward and there’s nowhere for the players to hide after their abysmal 46-12 loss to the Raiders last weekend.

It won’t get any easier for the Warriors this Friday as they take on the high flying Sea Eagles at Mt Smart Stadium, but Green says they’ve got to be ready to face the challenge, even if their backs are to the wall.

‘‘We can’t hide from it, it’s there isn’t it,’’ Green said after the team’s training session yesterday.

‘‘We’ve got to go after it and attack it. We’re not shying away from the challenge. It starts this week.’’

The Warriors players were booed by their supporters as they left the field when down 30-0 at halftime last week and they were only slightly better over the second 40 minutes.

But the team’s problem isn’t a game plan or coaching one, it’s down to the players’ mental approach.

‘‘It’s nothing really technical,’’ Green said. ‘‘It was all just attitude, heart, courage, desire. We lacked all the basic things you need to win physical contests.

‘‘The most disappointing thing is that we had buckets of it for about eight weeks there and the balloon sort of popped on Friday. We had none. We need to get that back quickly.’’

While there’s still the mathematical possibility of finishing in the top eight, hope lives on.

In a way, it’s good for the Warriors to play a strong team like the Sea Eagles on Friday. It’s better to make a statement by beating one of the better teams in the NRL than defeat another team in the bottom eight.

‘‘They’re flying, they’re going really well,’’ Green said of his former club, who are fifth on the ladder.

‘‘They’ve got a heap of standout individuals in their footy team. They’ve been rolling down the field and playing some really good footy and giving Tommy [Trbojevic] plenty of opportunities to take people on.

‘‘He hasn’t lost a game this year, Tom, nine from nine so it’d be good to get them over here.

‘‘Hopefully, it hammers down with rain, and cold and wet and windy and they hate it.’’

But what could count against the Warriors is injuries in key positions. Five-eighth Kodi Nikorima is out with an ankle injury and hooker Karl Lawton re-aggravated a shoulder injury against the Raiders.

With Issac Luke still suspended, it means Jazz Tevaga goes into hooker again, with Chanel Harris-tavita starting alongside Green in the halves.

Not that it’s saying much, but Harris-tavita was the Warriors’ best player against the Raiders, scoring all of their points. He showed a spark that wasn’t there in the others.

‘‘What we saw the other night is he’s off the cuff and sort of buzzing around the footy,’ Green said.

‘‘In both of his tries, there were other people probably in position to take that support run but he just popped up and fount it. He’s got good instincts. ‘‘

Meanwhile, Adam Keighran comes onto the extended interchange bench and is expected to be the back up hooker, while Warriors coach Stephen Kearney has gone for size with the rest of his bench, as Sam Lisone, Bunty Afoa and Ligi Sao are all expected to be on the interchange.