Warriors coach ‘excited’ by biggest challenge

“We've lost two in a row. It's not 10 in a row.’’

Andrew Webster, Warriors coach

It’s easy to forget Andrew Webster has only 38 matches under his belt as an NRL head coach, given what he achieved in his first season at the Warriors.

But now, eight games into this second campaign at Mt Smart Stadium, he finds himself under the pump for the first time.

As he sent his players away for three days off after their 27-24 loss to the Gold Coast Titans at home on Anzac Day, Webster was quick to note that their current run isn’t the worst they’ve had in his time in charge.

The defeat to the previously winless Titans followed a loss away to the St George Illawarra Dragons and a draw at home with the Manly Sea Eagles, which means it has been three rounds since the Warriors’ tasted success. They also went three rounds without a win around this time last year.

By the time they had their first bye last year, after round 11, the Warriors had a 6-5 record, but proceeded to go on a 10-3 run, with their third loss coming only in round 27, once their final position on the ladder was secure. This year, the Warriors have a 3-1-4 record after eight rounds and have to wait until after round 12 for their first bye.

Webster was not looking forward to having to watch the Titans game at some stage over the past three days, but was looking forward to the challenge of pulling the Warriors out of their mini-slump once they resumed training on Monday.

“I'm excited about the challenge for us – really,” he said in the post-match press conference.

“It's a really good opportunity to see how we are as a group – how tight we are.

“We've lost two in a row. It's not 10 in a row. I'm excited about everyone coming back fresh ready to go for the next challenge.”

Webster said he was “pumped” by the challenge in front of him and his team in May, where they have three games in Australia – the first against the Knights on Sunday – before returning home to play the Dolphins on the last Sunday of the month.

He attempted to pre-empt a comparison between the teams the Warriors lost to last year and the teams they had lost to in the last fortnight.

“Everyone’s saying it's the Dragons and Titans and we should have won those games.

“We're not looking at it that way. We're looking at ourselves.

“The two opponents the last two weeks have been amazing, and they're good footy teams. If you don't turn up in the NRL, that's what happens to you.

“We've been in worse situations. It's just the expectation – like everyone talks about – is different and I understand that and that's a good thing, because people think we can do something.

“We think we can do something. I'm excited about the next challenge. I'm gutted simply because we lost. If we won five in a row and we lost one, I’d still feel the same.

“We've got to get back to being us, because we're not at the moment.”