Wounded Warriors are responding well
The good news for the Warriors is that it’s hard for them to do much worse than last week.
But they shouldn’t get too excited just yet, given who lies in store tonight, when they bring a home game to Hamilton for the first time.
Just six days on from their horror loss to the Penrith Panthers, they will host the St George Illawarra Dragons, a team they have only beat five times in 25 attempts, and who they lost to in Sydney eight weeks ago.
The Warriors didn’t have Kieran Foran in that match and this time around it’s the Dragons who will be without their chief playmaker, Englishman Gareth Widdop, who injured his knee on Anzac Day.
The Warriors have taken a long, hard look at themselves this week, after giving up a 28-6 halftime lead to lose to the Panthers last weekend, and coach Stephen Kearney said he liked the response he had seen so far from his men.
‘‘They’ve been wonderful. It was a tough watch for us earlier in the week, but in this competition, you always get an opportunity to right some wrongs, and it’s come around pretty quickly.’’
It was a sentiment echoed by captain Roger Tuivasasheck, who said it was case of going back to basics.
‘‘I just want the boys to keep the game simple, and when an error happens, we’ve just got to let it go and get the game back on track.’’
Heading into this round, the Dragons were fifth on the NRL ladder, and had lost their past three games, albeit
to the top three sides - the Melbourne Storm, the Cronulla Sharks, and the Sydney Roosters.
That run of losses has coincided with the injury to Widdop, who has been joined by fullback Josh Dugan on the sidelines.
The 12th-placed Warriors have their own absentee list, which includes winger Manu Vatuvei (calf), stalwart forward Simon Mannering (hamstring), and centre Solomone Kata, who was the latest to join, picking up a calf injury in the latter stages of last weekend’s loss.
In their team named on Tuesday, the Warriors avoided any drastic changes, but moved David Fusitu’a into the centres to replace Kata, brought Ken Maumalo in to replace Fusitu’a on the edge, and Bunty Afoa in to start in place of Sam Lisone.
Prop Ben Matulino will play his 200th game for the club, while second rower Bodene Thompson will play his 50th.
Matulino is the fourth player to reach that milestone for the Warriors, after Stacey Jones, Mannering, and Vatuvei, and Kearney said yesterday that he still has plenty to offer the club, even if he is bound for Wests Tigers come the end of the season.
‘‘When you’re playing in the forwards these days, knocking off 200 games is a pretty significant achievement, and it’s only going to get tougher in this competition.
‘‘It’s a real credit to him. Ben’s one of the premier front rowers in the competition when he’s fit and well, so I’m really pleased for him.’’