Green: Loss not due to complacency
Five-eighth Blake Green denies the Warriors have grown complacent but believes they can start afresh after Brisbane ended their unbeaten run on Saturday.
Green admitted the Warriors were dominated physically by the desperate Broncos but was confident they could turn things around ahead of Friday’s home game against competition leaders St George Illawarra.
The 31-year-old was at a loss to explain their lacklustre display at Mt Smart Stadium.
“No, I didn’t [detect any complacency],” Green said. “We were really sharp during the week and had a lot of energy, so I’m not sure what the reason is, but we need to be much more energetic at home.
“It shouldn’t be hard for us to respond after that. We got outenthused on our own home ground, so we’ve got a chance to be better at that next week.”
Hard running and support play were a feature of the Warriors performances in the early rounds, but one-out carries and attempts to shift the ball wide without go-forward played into Brisbane’s hands.
The Warriors did well to fight back from 6-0 and draw level again at 14-14, but failed to apply themselves consistently and maintain intensity.
Green, along with halfback Shaun Johnson and hooker Issac Luke, played well in patches but were largely contained by the visitors’ hard-working forward pack.
“It can be hard when you play off the back foot sometimes,” he said.
“We just weren’t as united as a team. We weren’t the same as in the first few weeks.
“When things were going well for us, everyone was rolling down the field together and at times it looked a little bit disjointed. We’ll be all right. We’ll fix it and be better next week.”
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney acknowledged his playmakers struggled to stamp their mark and attributed that to the side failing to match Brisbane’s intensity.
“It’s all a by-product of the physicality,” he said. “They were more physically committed to the contest than we were. And that’s where the likes of Shaun, Greeny, Issac and Roger come into play.”
Green hoped the result would serve as a wake-up call and might help them refocus without the expectations that grew throughout their five-game winning streak.
How they respond against the Dragons will provide a gauge of their mental fortitude, and it doesn’t get any easier, with an Anzac Day clash in Melbourne, before home games against the Tigers and Roosters.
Back rower Leivaha Pulu is expected to miss a few weeks with a fractured foot, and centre Solomone Kata may also spend some time on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
“You can’t be off your game an inch in this competition, because you can get embarrassed and beaten quite easily,” Green said. “We didn’t get embarrassed but we just got dominated too much. Sometimes it’s probably easier to be an underdog and have no expectations, and once you get there, it is quite hard.”