Warriors boss Stephen Kearney is “comfortable” with the side’s 2017 progress despite Saturday’s NRL capitulation against Penrith, saying they simply took their eye off the ball.
The Auckland-based outfit threw away a 22-point half-time lead over the Panthers to lose 36-28 in western Sydney, the worst collapse in the club’s history.
As a result, the Warriors fell to 12th on the NRL ladder after 10 games, with long-suffering fans in open online revolt and further questions asked of the side’s mental fortitude and composure.
Nevertheless, Kearney told reporters he was confident the loss was no more than a blip on the 2017 radar and backed his troops to move on quickly.
“You take your eye off the ball in this competition and you’ll get your bum kicked, (so) the lesson is making sure we don’t do that,” Kearney said.
“It’s a matter of addressing, owning the performance – that’s not what we’ve been showing for the last month in particular.
“I’m not going to let 33 minutes determine the work we’ve done over the last six or seven games, I understand it’s a tough competition.”
In further bad news for the Warriors, winger Manu Vatuvei, centre Solomone Kata and back-row stalwart Simon Mannering have all been ruled out of Friday’s clash with the Dragons in Hamilton.
Kearney, who will name his side on Tuesday afternoon, warned against expecting wholesale squad changes.
He said the side had undertaken their video review of the Penrith match on Tuesday morning, with the leadership group taking responsibility.
“There’s a lesson every week, regardless of winning or losing,” Kearney said.