The Warriors have picked up the beginnings of some NRL momentum, but playmaker James Maloney says they still need to remove the flat patches in their game.

The Warriors are away to Brisbane on Friday in their third consecutive match against Queensland sides.

The previous two brought wins over North Queensland and Gold Coast to lift the Auckland-based club into the top eight.

But while there have been indications of a growing maturity in a young team boasting the second-best attack in the competition, tightening their defence and being more ruthless when ahead are areas to work on.

“It’s nice to put a couple of wins together but it’s going to be a bigger challenge this week and it’s something we have to be mindful of,” Maloney said.

“We’ve still got patches we want to sort out. It’s probably nice to know we’ve still got improvement in us.”

While the Cowboys and Titans were both depleted by State of Origin, fourth-placed Brisbane will have their seven Queensland representatives back and they are also rested after a bye.

However, the Warriors can draw confidence from their 30-20 pre-Origin defeat of the Broncos in Auckland in early May.

“We got the measure of them over here and there’s nothing stopping us doing it again,” Maloney said.

“We just have to make sure we’re playing the right style of footy.”

Meanwhile, Maloney admits it’s an exciting prospect if All Black Sonny Bill Williams’ predicted NRL destination is correct, but his priority is on finishing well with the Warriors.

After completing three years in Auckland, Maloney will be off to the Sydney Roosters, the club Williams is understood to be joining after a stint in Japanese rugby later this year.

“Apparently, he’s heading where I am – that’s the talk,” Maloney quipped.

“I suppose it will be exciting when it comes around but, at the moment, all my focus is here.”