Former Warriors coach Tony Kemp has taken aim at the club's soft performance against the Melbourne Storm on the weekend.
Up against one of the NRL’s perennial contenders, the Warriors trailed 36-0 after 31 minutes and ultimately succumbed to a 42-14 hammering on the road – a result that showcased a clear gulf in class between the two sides.
Kemp – who coached the Warriors in 2004 and 2005 – told Martin Devlin on the DSPN the Storm were relentless, and the Warriors could not contend with it.
“You could see from the start, they [Warriors] just weren’t in it. There was a contact issue. The Warriors just weren’t shaping up across the board.
“They lost that first 40 minutes… when you’re starting a game against Melbourne, you have to shape up… you can’t allow the contact to be – I’m not going to say soft, because it’s never soft – but you have to dominate the contact.”
Losing to the Storm is nothing new for the Warriors or their fans. Sunday afternoon marked the 17th straight defeat to Melbourne.
It was however the manner of the loss that will no doubt concern coach Andrew Webster and his colleagues. In the first half the Storm had double the number of running metres, and seven linebreaks to the Warriors’ none. They also enjoyed 60 per cent possession, and made 11 offloads, while the Warriors had just three.
“You give them front foot football, and those four players [Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant] especially will find you out,” Kemp said.
He pointed the finger at the Warriors senior players as opposed to their youngsters. “Contact’s the first thing. I think the senior blokes will take a wrap over the knuckles here and see that their first-up contact wasn’t good enough at this level,” he added.
Kemp was a bit more positive about the Warriors season as a whole. “Where the Warriors are sitting now after six rounds, you have to say they’re probably a chance of making the eight”.
By the numbers, he is not wrong - the Warriors sit sixth on the ladder with a 3-2 record, and just two points off second place.
But things do not get much easier for them, as the Brisbane Broncos come to town this Easter Saturday. The Auckland-based club are down troops as well with injuries and suspension forcing a number of changes to the matchday 17, while the Broncos will field a near-full strength side.
Brisbane though is coming off a demoralising defeat themselves, falling to the Sydney Roosters at home.
Both Devlin and Kemp feel the Queensland club is there for the taking, but the latter is cautious of which Warriors side turns up.
“If we show up like we did against Melbourne in that first 40 minutes, they’re capable, Brisbane, of doing the same thing.”
The Warriors’ position on the ladder is thanks in large part to those three successive wins over the Sea Eagles, Roosters and Tigers.
Following the Broncos clash, they have a string of matches against other teams also - likely - fighting for a finals place, with the Knights [home], Cowboys [home] and Dragons [away].
Three matches where anything lacklustre from the Warriors will be punished.
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