Warriors coach Stephen Kearney wants his big men to unleash some intensity when they face Manly in Christchurch on Saturday.
He believes a lack of toughness is behind the drop-off in his side’s form from earlier this season.
The fourth-placed Kiwi club have been a distant second-best in the battle of the trenches in recent key matches, a subject they didn’t shy from during their week off.
Kearney wants to see the likes of front-rowers Bunty Afoa, Agnatius Paasi and James Gavet return to the sort of form that carried the Warriors to a perfect record through the first five rounds.
Kearney believes they have rested for too long on the cushion of a winning record.
“We drifted away from the areas that are really important to our game,” Kearney said.
“That might have come through guys thinking ‘we’re second or third on the table – things are going all right, maybe I don’t have to do that this week’.”
The Warriors were bulldozed by the Burgess brothers in their last-start 30-10 loss to Souths.
Kearney suspects Manly hard men like Jake Trbojevic and Kiwi pair Martin Taupau and Addin Fonua-Blake will target any perceived soft points in the Warriors line.
Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the Warriors’ best performer against Souths, is in serious doubt with an ankle injury.
That is countered by the return of halfback Shaun Johnson after three weeks out, for his 150th match.
Meanwhile, the Sea Eagles have been boosted by the clearance of victorious NSW State of Origin siblings Jake and Tom Trbojevic to play.
Manly coach Trent Barrett said both were sorely missed during last week’s deflating 26-12 loss to North Queensland, a ninth defeat for the season which left them languishing in 13th.
“We struggled a bit without them, particularly in attack, last week,” Barrett said.
“We are glad that they are back, you need your best players playing and it’s important that we got them over here and gave them a chance.”
STATS THAT MATTER:
* A Manly victory would be the first time in 20 years they’ve notched eight straight wins over any opponent.
* The Warriors have won just six of 28 games played in New Zealand away from Mt Smart Stadium.
* Manly prop Martin Taupau is on track to be the NRL’s top offloader for a second straight season. He’s racked up 43.
*Source: Fox Sports Stats
