Richie Barnett: Warriors need to refocus on defence to get results

Warriors James Maloney scores a try against the Canterbury Bulldogs. Photo / Richard Robinson

Storm's direct attacking style will prove serious test this weekend.

It was pretty revealing to see Shaun Johnson and James Maloney talking on television this week about how the focus under new Warriors coach Brian McClennan has been mainly on attack.

To me that's concerning. I've always felt if you get your defence right then attack tends to flow naturally from that. That's the way the game is usually approached, particularly in the NRL. It's a bit different in the Northern Hemisphere, where the focus is more attack-orientated, so Bluey seems to have brought a bit of that Super League style with him.

But when you look at the stats it's pretty clear where the Warriors need to improve. The defence has been a real issue. I'm expecting there will now be a change of focus with the team really going back to making sure it gets its defence right.

The fact that they kept the Tigers scoreless in the first half of their last match was certainly a good sign. But they need to start getting it right for the full match sooner rather than later. With the new finals system in place, just scraping into the top eight in sixth or seventh isn't going to cut it any more. If teams want to have a serious crack at the title they need to be finishing inside the top four.

For the Warriors, that means putting some results together right now, and to do that they have to continue to improve their defence.

Melbourne will certainly provide a stern test. Their attack is different to any other team in the competition. They play so direct, right at the advantage line and with tremendous precision. Nullifying it really comes down to the outside defenders making correct decisions. Manu Vatuvei and Bill Tupou have to pick when to come in and when to stay out. They will have been studying Melbourne all week and working out what to do but it is a different story when you have to make that decision in a split second - particularly when the Storm switch first receivers, which is something they do particularly well.

The Storm have been hugely impressive this season. To me they look better than ever. After having their titles stripped away and then bombing out last year they look hugely motivated. We all focus on the big three of Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cam Smith, but the strength of this team is how well they do things across the board. Everyone in the Storm does their job superbly. You don't get much credit for running decoys and working off the ball but those little things count for everything. That all the Storm players do the unrewarding things so well is a major reason the big three look so good.

The challenge for the Warriors is to match those efforts.

Warriors fans will have the first chance to have a close look at new signing Dane Nielsen on Sunday. I reckon he'll be a very good acquisition. He isn't necessarily going to set the world on fire but he is a specialist centre so he gets a big tick right there. He's also consistent and can be relied upon to do his job, which is exactly what the club needs.

I wasn't surprised to see Krisnan Inu play so well for the Bulldogs in his first match. Everyone knows he is capable of playing like that but I doubt he'll keep it up. To me Inu is like a big diamond ring. You put it on for a night and it looks pretty flash but then you take it off and chuck it in a draw and you don't see it again for a couple of months.