Warriors eye spine of Dragons

WARRIORS coach Stephen Kearney has highlighted St George Illawarra’s attacking threat and believes the NRL leaders have the form spine of the competition.

The Dragons boast the quartet of fullback Matt Dufty, hooker Cameron McInnes and star halves Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop for tonight’s clash with the Warriors in Auckland.

“They’re putting real pressure on opposition teams with the way they attack,” Kearney said of the unbeaten Dragons.

“Young Dufty, McInnes, Ben and Gareth – they’re probably the form spine of the competition, and they have some guys in between them that all do fantastic jobs.”

The Dragons, who top the table with a two-point lead over three teams, including the Warriors, have averaged 32 points a game over the first six rounds.

In skipper Widdop, who will be making his 100th appearance for the club, they have the competition’s leader in try assists and line-break assists.

At the back, Dufty’s speed and step have brought him six tries, a figure bettered only by the eight of Warriors winger David Fusitu’a.

For Kearney, the best way to defend against the 22-year-old Dufty, who heads the NRL in line breaks, is to avoid giving him the ball. Failing that, stay switched on.

“We’ve seen what he’s capable of,” the coach said.

“We just have to make sure that when he does carry the footy we’re all alert, because he catches the ball on one side of the field and he’s on the other side of the park very quickly.”

The Warriors will aim to rebound from their first loss of the season, having failed to match Brisbane’s intensity last Saturday in a 27-18 defeat at home.

Back-rower Adam Blair says the Warriors have moved on from “a little bit of hiccup” and are back to business.

But they also know they will have to lift physically against the Dragons.

“Everyone’s saying they’re the best forward pack at the moment, so it’s a challenge for our middles,” Blair said.

The Warriors have won just one of their past 14 matches against St George Illawarra.