The Warriors latest defeat – a 38-12 thumping at the hands of Canberra – has again highlighted the Achilles’ heel of their NRL season.

It’s the seventh time in 11 rounds that they have conceded 25 or more points and not once have they managed to keep a team to single figures.

The Warriors’ dressing room was a disconsolate one after the Raiders ran in six tries to two on Saturday night in the first NRL match to be staged in New Plymouth.

“We didn’t give the people who turned up any respect in how we played,” lock Simon Mannering said.

The former club skipper, who returned to action after sitting out the previous two rounds with a serious facial injury, pointed to the area the Warriors had to fix in a hurry.

“The defence is the most important and most worrying,” he said.

“Scoreline aside, if you come off the field and can say ‘we had a crack’, you can be happy with that. The video will tell a lot.”

While the defeat is sure to heap further pressure on coach Andrew McFadden, Mannering said the issue wasn’t with the defensive structures put in place by the coaching staff.

“Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

“Everyone knows what we need to do – we’re just not doing it.

“Sometimes it’s the effort things that are the most important in defence.”

The loss to the Raiders leaves the Warriors languishing in the bottom quarter of the table and with the second worst defence in the competition.

Mannering said whether they remained a serious chance of making the play-offs wasn’t something they were focused on.

“We’re not even thinking about that at all,” he said.

“We have to get our performance right and the results will come.

“For sure it’s no secret we need to start getting a few points, but if we are start worrying about that, we’re no chance.”