The Warriors are wary of a Wests Tigers side who have their NRL season back on course, even if skipper Robbie Farah will be missing this week.
Farah will be in camp with NSW ahead of State of Origin I when the Warriors and Tigers meet in Sydney on Friday night.
Warriors’ coach Brian McClennan says the hooker’s absence won’t affect how his side approach the match.
He says the Tigers have coped without Farah in the past, still have plenty of attacking threats across the park and will be refreshed after a bye.
“They’ve got Benji Marshall, who can be absolutely lethal and can steer their ship around, and it’s at their spiritual home in Leichhardt,” he said on Tuesday.
“We’re under no illusions about how tough this game is going to be.”
With Farah out, McClennan expected Marshall to look to get his hands on the ball more, which would further test the Warriors’ defence.
“It’s pretty hard to know what he’s going to do, Benji, so it doesn’t make it any easier,” he said.
“We’re aware of what can happen.”
The Warriors are sitting eighth on the table, but have the second-worst defence in the competition.
Only once have they kept opponents to below 20 points in a game, and only bottom-of-the-table Parramatta have conceded more than their total of 242 points.
McClennan readily acknowledged his side needed to start competing a lot better in that area.
After a five-match losing streak, the Tigers have righted their ship with three successive wins before their bye to sit one spot below the Warriors on the ladder.
The Tigers’ last victory featured a Farah golden-point field goal against Gold Coast, the fourth time this season that one of their matches has been decided by a solitary point.