Kearney hails new attitude as Warriors refuse to crack
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney revealed it’s not the technical side of their goal line defence that’s standing out, but their attitude when it’s backs to the wall.
For the second week in a row, the Warriors withstood immense pressure on their line as Johnathan Thurston and his Cowboys teammates threw everything at them last night.
But they were able to hold out for a 22-12 win over last year’s NRL Grand Finalists and remain unbeaten this season.
Speaking afterwards, Kearney says it’s not because of defensive game plan that they’re doing better, but because of a better attitude.
‘‘The attitude and commitment is different,’’ Kearney said. ‘‘So in terms of are we doing anything different? That’s been the difference.
‘‘Roger (Tuivasa-Sheck) says he feels comfortable there, the boys in the middle of the park are responding to Roger, he’s the conductor there and he’s responding to him.’’
As for the game, it wasn’t a blowout like it was against the Roosters the previous week, but the Warriors had to cope with the Cowboys keep coming back at them, particularly in the second half.
‘‘It was a real tough contest out there,’’ he said.
‘‘We came up against a very committed footy team and they had
It was a real tough contest out there. Stephen Kearney
something like 95 per cent completion with 10 or 15 minutes to go.
‘‘It took us a lot to get over the tryline, particularly in that second half, they were very desperate.
‘‘We opened well, in terms of the first half, but we probably opened the door for them a bit at the back end of the first half.
‘‘But there was some really good stuff, we put them under pressure and made them come out of the backfield consistently. We executed our plays really well and in the second half, we came up against a desperate footy team trying to get themselves into the contest.
‘‘But we toughed it out with some good goal line defence again.’’
It was the first time in 11 years that the Warriors had sold out a regular season game at Mt Smart Stadium and the atmosphere was something none of the players had experienced for a home game before.
‘‘I thought it was wonderful to have both games,’’ Kearney said.
‘‘The rugby league crowd came to watch two contests like they did tonight, that’s fantastic.
‘‘Our administration staff were working really hard this week to make it happen the way it did, so it was a great night.’’
While there had been some who’d come along to support the Tigers, Storm or Cowboys, the vast majority were there to cheer on the Warriors and Kearney felt the players responded to that.
‘‘The way the boys have been playing for each other and performing, I’m really pleased,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve been able to get a great crowd here tonight and win a game of footy in front of our fans and members, that’s what’s really important.’’