Take your partners: Dance of the desperates
In desperate need of a boost after hitting rock bottom, the Warriors have a golden chance to reverse their fortunes today and it comes from an unlikely source.
With their head coach sacked, players wanting to go home and the losses mounting, the Warriors may be a club in turmoil but the Broncos – for so long the benchmark of the NRL – are not far behind.
The proud Brisbane outfit have fallen off a cliff since the resumption of the competition, with last week’s lacklustre defeat to the Gold Coast
Titans – their fifth in a row – putting the blowtorch on coach Anthony Seibold.
Despite being in just the second of a five-year deal, Seibold has been bombarded with questions about his future, with many experts wondering whether he should join ex-coach Stephen Kearney in the job queue.
While Brisbane have had their injury concerns, Seibold still has plenty of talent to work with but they have struggled to adapt to the new rule interpretations and are unrecognisable from the team that won their opening two games.
The Broncos head into the clash at Central Coast Stadium one place below the Warriors in 15th, having conceded almost 30 points per game (compared to 26 for the Auckland club). And this from a side who were widely tipped to challenge for a top four spot at the start of the season.
Yet if anyone in the Warriors camp knows what Brisbane are capable of, it’s Kodi Nikorima.
The Kiwi five-eighth started his career in the rugby league-mad city before moving across the Tasman midway through last year. And with so much expectation on the Broncos, he’s expecting a fierce response.
‘‘I’ve been there before and I know how much pressure there is on that side – you feel it when you’re not winning,’’ Nikorima said.
‘‘Obviously with the Broncos being under so much pressure they’re going to come out firing so we’ll have to weather the storm for the first 20-odd minutes and then hopefully we can get on top of them with our energy.’’
Of course, the Warriors have their own issues to focus on and Nikorima believes everyone at the club is ‘‘on notice’’ after Kearney’s dismissal.
In a positive sign for this weekend, the Warriors started the last two games against the Rabbitohs and Storm relatively well.
However, a tendency to drop their heads as soon as things went against them saw the points quickly pile up, which is an area the squad has been working hard to rectify.
‘‘That’s one thing we’ve spoken about this week is that when things do go against us, trying to be more resilient,’’ Nikorima added.
‘‘At times when those sort of things happen to us we tend to crack so that’s pretty much our focus going into this week and moving forward.’’
Nikorima was a standout performer in the Warriors’ only two victories to date and will need to be at this attacking best tonight in the absence of suspended star fullback and captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
The Broncos are also missing several key players with prop Matt Lodge succumbing to a knee injury, joining the likes of David Fifita (knee), Kotoni Staggs (hamstring) and Joe Ofahengaue (suspension) on the sidelines.