Kearney blasts side for their ‘soft’ effort

The Warriors were left to rue a missed opportunity to cement their place in the top eight following yesterday’s humiliating 36-12 NRL loss to the Titans.

The Warriors went to the sheds ahead 12-8 but clocked off in the second half as the home side ran riot to score five tries at Cbus Super Stadium.

Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson lamented his side’s poor second-half showing that has left them on shaky ground in eighth spot five weeks out from the finals. Two of their last five opponents are fellow top eight sides: the Dragons and Panthers.

“If you show up without the right intent, you’re going to get burnt, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” said Johnson.

“It’s something we spoke about all week — we knew this was a real danger game for us.

“The Titans didn’t have much to play for but always have a crack so that was a really big missed opportunity [yesterday].

“It’s not the end of the world but it certainly feels like it at the moment.”

The Warriors were far from convincing in a scrappy first half but errors and a lack of composure hurt their chances of launching any kind of comeback in the second half.

A lack of ball control saw them complete just 21 of 31 sets and their defence dropped off as the Titans powered through 500 more running metres and made eight line breaks to two.

“We played into their hands a bit,” said Warriors coach Stephen Kearney. “Even when we were two tries down, you’re never completely out of it and we just played panic footy.

“Look at the completion rate of 68 per cent, and the second half would have been a lot less. We lost our way, so that’s the heart of it.”

Kearney reiterated the ugly truth that his side produced a soft performance in the second half and questioned the effort of senior players by highlighting the tireless work of young second rowers Isaiah Papali’i and four-game Joseph Vuna, in his first start.

“The point I made to them at halftime was that we were playing a good team and we didn’t respond well enough,” Kearney said.

“I don’t like using the word but there was some soft effort and soft commitment out there at certain times.

“And when your two most committed players are back rowers where one is a 19-year-old [Papali’i] and the other turned 20 last week, that’s not a good sign.

“That probably says something about our performance when you’ve got two young fellas leading the way for us.”