Coach Brian McClennan has his eye on some NRL payback after watching his improving Warriors upset second-placed Brisbane, but they’ll have to do without courageous hooker Nathan Friend for six weeks.
The Warriors follow Saturday’s impressive 30-20 home victory over Brisbane by hosting the Sydney Roosters next weekend.
While the 2011 grand finalists showed signs of returning to their best with some near error-free first-half football to go 24-10 up against the Broncos, and then displayed defensive resilience to stay in front, McClennan wasn’t getting carried away.
He batted away suggestions that it was the Warriors’ best performance of a season that has brought four victories and five defeats.
“It’s two points, it’s one win,” he said after a match that drew in 19,012 spectators, the biggest attendance at Mt Smart Stadium this year.
McClennan’s focus is on the coming week and rewarding the fans with a repeat strong showing at home.
But he also hasn’t forgotten the Warriors’ trip to Sydney in late March, when the Roosters “did a bit of a job on us” as they cruised to a 26-8 victory.
After an erratic start to the campaign, McClennan’s men have started to hit some consistent form, with a big win over South Sydney and a competitive effort against leaders Melbourne preceding Brisbane’s visit.
However, the result against the Broncos came at a cost, with workaholic hooker Friend expected to be sidelined for up to six weeks with a broken jaw.
The 144-match veteran, who faces probable surgery, suffered the break in the fifth minute, but refused to go off.
He made light of the pain and a bloodied mouth by pulling off a team-high 53 tackles and coming up with two try assists.
Skipper Simon Mannering said Friend, who never mentioned the injury during the match, was inspirational.
“He was just head down and tackling his butt off,” Mannering said.
“It was a massive effort.”
Friend’s opposite, Andrew McCullough, also clocked up a big statistic with 61 tackles despite rolling an ankle.
But the Broncos, whose next two opponents are premiers Manly and unbeaten Melbourne with a bye in-between, also had a key casualty.
In-form halfback Peter Wallace went off in the first half with a groin complaint that looks to have scuppered his NSW Origin hopes.
Wallace, who will have a scan on Tuesday, was unsure whether the injury was a recurrence of a previous one or something new, but doesn’t rate his chances of being available against the Sea Eagles.
Coach Anthony Griffin agreed that Wallace’s absence led to a lack of structure as the Broncos chased the game in the second spell to try to keep alive a six-match winning streak.
“We were a little bit all over the shop there,” he said.
“In previous weeks, we’ve been pretty good. It’s something to work on through the week coming up.”
