The Warriors know they have to stop giving NRL opponents flying starts, although coach Brian McClennan is confident the problem is not a hard fix.
The Warriors, who are at home against the unbeaten Bulldogs on Sunday, have a 1-1 win-loss record after both times falling well behind early.
Against Manly in round one, they were three tries and 16-0 down before mounting a comeback that fell just short as the premiers hung on to win 26-20.
Against Parramatta on Monday night they gave the Eels a two-try headstart and reeled them in to hand McClennan his first NRL success with a 36-20 win.
“We realise the importance of getting into the game a bit quicker,” said McClennan on Wednesday.
“I don’t think it’s going to be hard to do. It’s just happened twice, so you can’t say it’s a trend.”
All five of those early tries conceded to Manly and Parramatta were scored out wide and McClennan said the Warriors’ defence on the edges was something they had already talked about this week.
McClennan, who named an unchanged expanded squad of 20, saw more positives than negatives from the performance against the Eels.
In particular, he liked the way his charges were prepared to chance their arm late on.
He described the third quarter as the best period he had seen from the Warriors in his short time at the helm, although turnovers meant they didn’t capitalise on the scoreboard.
The points did come in the final quarter, with James Maloney finishing off an expansive move, and then Kevin Locke and Bill Tupou scoring from long-range efforts to seal victory.
“I liked that we had the courage to play some football,” McClennan said.
The Bulldogs are one of just three teams with a 100 per cent record after two rounds and McClennan was impressed by their 30-4 win over St George Illawarra last Saturday.
He could already see the imprint of new coach Des Hasler, a two-time premiership-winning coach with Manly, on the Bulldogs.
“Their back five carry the ball really strongly and they are all very busy, so they will work your middle third over really well,” McClennan said.
“And their management of the game is very good, and that’s what Dessie Hasler has brought to the club. They come here as the in-form team at the moment and that’s a nice challenge for us.”
