NRL: Motivation not an issue, says Luck

Micheal Luck says motivation won't be a problem for the Warriors, despite having no chance of making the playoffs. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The New Zealand Warriors say they won't lack motivation despite having just pride to play for over the final four weeks of their National Rugby League (NRL) season.

The Warriors remain stuck near the foot of the table after a 30-10 defeat to Gold Coast in a lacklustre match in Auckland yesterday.

The Titans raced out to an early 14-0 lead during a dominant first quarter, held off a mini-comeback from the opposition, then sealed victory with three tries in the last 16 minutes.

Although Gold Coast sit third in the competition, coach John Cartwright declined to talk about his side's playoff prospects.

But Cartwright did allude to the different scenarios facing the Titans and the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium.

"We were just trying to burn their juice up, get to our kick and chase as hard as we could," he said.

"If we could just do that and bore them out of the game... in the end they didn't have a lot to play for, being out of the race for the semis."

However, while the Warriors might be out of finals contention, stand-in skipper Micheal Luck said motivation hadn't been an issue.

"You play every week," he said.

"That's what we all love doing. That's why we play the game. It's the best competition in the world."

Luck pointed to the way the Warriors came back over the middle third of the match with two tries to winger Manu Vatuvei.

He said it showed they had learnt the "harsh lesson" from their 32-32 draw against Penrith the previous week, when they let slip a 26-point lead.

"When things are going bad, you have to go back to basics," he said.

"We drove through their middle and I thought we looked the better side for the middle half-hour."

However, he said the Warriors also came up against "a pretty smart halfback" in Scott Prince who knew how to run a game.

Vatuvei, whose tries both came in identical fashion from cross-field kicks by halfback Stacey Jones, said the Warriors wanted a strong run home to build a platform for next year.

"It's tough, but we just have to try to finish on a good note," he said.

"The boys are together and we know we can build for next season."

Coach Ivan Cleary had made several changes to the starting 13 against the Titans, although one of them - giving an NRL debut to Elijah Taylor - didn't eventuate after the centre was a late withdrawal because of a hamstring injury.

Taylor, 20, is expected to be available for selection for the trip to Parramatta next week.

Of the other changes, Kevin Locke's move from wing to fullback looked the most effective, while the choice of Aaron Heremaia at five-eighth and Lewis Brown as starting hooker was less conclusive.

Cleary said he wanted to have another look at the game before commenting on how the reshuffle had gone.

"The start wasn't good for us, but there are a number of factors in that."

He said the selection philosophy for the side to face the Eels would be the same as it was last week.

It was a balance between trying to give some players an opportunity and still looking to win the game.

- NZPA