‘Toxic sprays’ among Warriors

At a glance

Senior Warriors players have said the on-field sniping at each other during games needs to stop.

The Warriors are coming towards the end of a tough season, with last weekend’s 26-14 loss to the Raiders after being up 14-0 at halftime typifying their problems.

For the players it’s been a frustrating season, with individual errors factors in defeats.

This has led to players criticising or arguing with each other during games, and ahead of Friday’s fixture against the Storm at Mt Smart Stadium senior players have said this has to stop.

‘‘We’re frustrated, but we know no one is going out there to make the errors that they are,’’ Addin Fonua-Blake said.

‘‘We’ve got to cut that bickering and stuff out. I’m guilty of it and I’ve got to work on it as well. We’ve all got to realise people aren’t going out there to make mistakes.’’

Fellow middle forward Jazz Tevaga says as the losses have mounted during the season, the on-field feeling among the team has got worse.

Warriors team to play the Storm: Reece Walsh, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Marcelo Montoya, Adam Pompey, Edward Kosi, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Shaun Johnson; Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Tohu Harris, Euan Aitken, Josh Curran, Jazz Tevaga. Interchange: Freddy Lussick, Bunty Afoa, Eliesa Katoa Jackson Frei. Reserves: Tom Ale, Daejarn Asi, Ronald Volkman, Viliame Vailea, Taniela Otukolo.

‘‘I can’t put it down to one thing, but we’re pretty mentally weak at the moment and when something goes against us, it has a snowball effect and that’s built up of frustration and then guys start spraying each other.

‘‘There have been toxic sprays on the field and that’s something we’ve got to get out of our game, but like I said, that’s built up of frustration.’’

Tevaga has never been one to sugar coat what’s happening at the Warriors.

‘‘A lot of the boys have just had enough of all this s… and when things go wrong, it’s like ‘here we go again’. That’s the feeling we’ve been getting prior to the Tigers [win in round 16] and in the second half [against the Raiders].

‘‘It has been a bit ugly, but we’ve got to learn from that and get over it quickly.’’

Halfback Shaun Johnson also feels that the on-field sprays among the players is being caused by the poor results.

‘‘It’s sort of always going to happen when you’ve had a frustrating year. We’re all competitive and we all just want to win,’’ Johnson said.

‘‘Everyone buys into the prep during the week – you put so much effort into what you’re trying to do and you come up short in the weekend.

‘‘You guys have 80 minutes, we have so much more than that. We put in so much more than 80 minutes and when it’s not gone your way on the field – that’s when the frustration comes from,’’ Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Reece Walsh is back at fullback for Friday’s game against the Storm, having been dropped to the interchange bench for last weekend’s clash against the Raiders.

Chanel Harris-Tavita, who wore the No 1 jersey last Saturday, moves to five-eighth and Daejarn Asi drops to the reserves.