Warriors slump to another loss

FOR about 10 seconds at Canberra Stadium yesterday, things looked good for the Warriors.

Skipper Simon Mannering had taken the ball from the Raiders kick-off and flew 55 metres up field; would this be the day the Warriors would break their 11-year Canberra hoodoo?

Mannering’s fumble as he was tackled was the start of an answer that would be completed 80 minutes later with a resounding ‘‘no’’, with a listless Warriors outfit going down 32-12.

All signs seemed good for the Warriors in the buildup to yesterday’s game, raising hopes of the side picking up their first win in Canberra since 2001.

They went into a week-long camp in Kiama, New South Wales, training hard, while their opponents saw Joel Thompson join former test prop Brett White, Josh Dugan and Sean Fensom on the injury bench.

Yet from the early stages, the Warriors looked languid, tired; almost uninterested.

Rising star halfback Shaun Johnson seemed to lack his typical maturity and poise, while James Maloney, who was been spoken about as a Origin prospect of late, was completely out of sorts.

Coach Brian Mcclennan admitted the bad start blues were again the culprit as the Warriors slumped to their fourth loss of the year. ‘‘It’s been that horrible trend we’ve got into that we’ve struggled at the start.’’