Blair: Preparation key to halting Jekyll and Hyde form
The Warriors hope a renewed focus on individual preparation can help them reduce the margin between their best and worst performances.
The Stephen Kearney-coached side started the season on fire but heavy defeats to the Storm, Roosters, Rabbitohs and Panthers have left question marks over their finals credentials.
Fans and critics have been left scratching their heads as they try to gauge their Jekyll and Hyde form week to week and it remains to be seen which version runs out for tomorrow’s rematch against Melbourne at Mt Smart Stadium.
Many were predicting their top eight demise following their awful defeat to Penrith a fortnight ago before they reignited hopes of claiming a top four finish with last week’s stunning win in Brisbane.
Veteran forward Adam Blair explained how better attention to detail helped them perform at their best against the Broncos and hopes that will bring better consistency to their game throughout the run towards the playoffs.
“We were really big on individual preparation at the start of the year and maybe at times it has slipped off,” said Blair.
“We’re in a team sport here, so we don’t blame individuals, but if we look at our performances individually, not everyone was on [against Penrith].
“So you look at yourself and you go back to the drawing board and work on your improvements. You talk to the coaches and find out what you need to be better at and then you nail those each week.
“Our preparation was really good leading into the Broncos match and going up to Suncorp with a packed crowd on a Sunday afternoon, there’s no better place. If you can’t get up for that game, you shouldn’t be playing footy.”
Blair remains confident the Warriors can match it with the best teams but understands their unpredictable form has left many unconvinced and acknowledges the fact they remain a work in progress.
“I was at Brisbane in 2015 and no one gave us a chance then and we snuck into the grand final before everyone started realising, ‘they’re actually the real deal’,” he said.
“So you can’t control what people say, and the only thing we can do and people can judge you by, is your performances on the field.
“And if one week, you’re playing terrible, and the next week, you’re playing good, then it sits people back a bit and they think ‘if they could put these two games together, then maybe you’ve got a really quality side’.
“But we’re a team that’s learning to play consistent footy and we always want to be better individually and as a group and the team is understanding that slowly.”
As frustrating as the Warriors’ unpredictability is, context is everything.
It’s easy to forget they were among the favourites to collect the wooden spoon before a ball was kicked and yet they are seventh on the premiership ladder with the best away record (7-2) in the competition.
Blair believes the side is still learning how to overcome some obstacles that have burdened Warriors teams since the club’s inception in 1995, while younger players are still coming to grips with playing in the NRL.
“If you look at a few of the sides that are above us, most of them have been together for a while.
“This is a really fresh team with a lot of young talent that needed some good guidance and leadership around, which we have now.
“Being able to understand the games and how tough they are, flying every second week, the travel, and how tough the competition is — we’re all trying to understand that as a group and we’re learning to adapt.
“This year has been a good lesson for us and we’re taking our jobs and each other’s jobs and the things that we do as a group really personally.”