Simon says and players respond

Everyone respects Simon [Mannering].

It was the perfect way for Simon Mannering to celebrate his milestone on Saturday night, with a 28-17 win over the Titans.

Mannering was made captain in his 250th game because of Ryan Hoffman’s illness and the victory was one that typified what he’s brought to the club.

It wasn’t flashy but it was gritty and hard-fought, just like Mannering.

He is never one to draw attention to himself but was unable to stop that this week as many former players got in touch to congratulate him for getting to 250 and he walked onto the field with his two small children in his arms before the game.

It wouldn’t have taken anything away from Mannering’s contribution if the Warriors had lost this game but it was fitting that they were able to get the win.

Speaking afterwards, Mannering admitted it had been an unusual week for him.

‘‘It’s not been difficult, just a different,’’ Mannering said.

‘‘It is special. I had a lunch early in the week and Francis Meli was there. I started my career sleeping on his couch.

‘‘It was cool to have him present me with my jersey and that’s what you never forget, the people who help you out along the way and from the start.

‘‘It’s a privilege to be at the club for this long. When you’ve played this many games it means there aren’t many left, so you make the most of it, enjoy it while you can. Tonight was definitely a special one.’’

Although Mannering was captain, he didn’t come to the postmatch press conference, leaving that responsibility to Shaun Johnson, who said there was a strong desire in the team to win this game for Mannering. Shaun Johnson bit

‘‘Everyone Johnson said.

‘‘It was in the back of the minds of our leaders especially.

‘‘Tommy [Leuluai] spoke to me a few times about really getting this one done for him and it drove me that little bit more.’’

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden didn’t have any hesitation in giving the captaincy back to Mannering, once Hoffman was ruled out with a virus.

‘‘When I told him he was going to be captain today, he said ‘can someone else do the toss?’’’ McFadden said.

‘‘He’s really enjoying his footy at the moment. He’s still a leader in our club. He just enjoys being able to do that behind closed doors, so he was happy to do the job today but he’ll be happy to hand it back to Ryan next week.’’

As for the game, Mannering said the Warriors improved as it went on.

‘‘I thought it was a bit scrappy, especially that first half,’’ he said. ‘‘Things didn’t go our way but I liked how the team got on with it.

‘‘We got a good talk from Cappy [McFadden] at halftime and knew what we had to do to fix it and, in the second half, it was disappointing to let that try in with five to go but that’s the type of team the Titans are. You can’t dominate them and they don’t die wondering.’’

This was the Warriors’ fourth win in their last five games. During the Origin period they’ve gone from looking like a club in disarray to genuine contenders to make the top eight.

‘‘It was a good win,’’ McFadden said. ‘‘What we’ve learnt in the last five weeks or so is that you’ve got to find different ways to win and we found a different way tonight.

‘‘We were a touch flat early but we built into the game and you’ve got to give credit to the opposition, they really turned up and they pushed us.’’ respects Simon,’’