Warriors coach Andrew Webster is demanding better concentration from his players. Photo / Photosport
Warriors coach Andrew Webster is demanding better concentration from his players. Photo / Photosport
Warriors coach Andrew Webster admits the team have a mindset issue, but is confident they can find a quick fix.
Despite a lofty position on the NRL ladder, the Warriors have been less than convincing in recent weeks and that trend continued on Saturday night in Hamilton.
Against a WestsTigers team that are destined for the wooden spoon, the Warriors huffed and puffed but struggled for rhythm, with their performance blighted by errors, poor decisions and some shoddy defence.
They still got the job done, scoring five tries in a 30-22 victory, but it was another below-par effort, following mistake-riddled wins against Canberra and the Gold Coast.
“I’m relieved at the two points, it certainly wasn’t one of our better ones,” admitted Webster. “The tries we conceded I didn’t think were us. It was great work by them, the Tigers played really well - we don’t normally concede tries like that.”
The Tigers brought plenty to their “home” game - played in front of a massive 25,118 crowd at Waikato Stadium - and attacked from anywhere, with the pace of Daine Laurie and their outside backs causing issues all night.
“There is a lot of pressure there, a team that’s throwing the ball around, [but you] need to hold your gloves up and concentrate,” said Webster. “I don’t think we did that enough.”
After establishing a 12-0 lead after 13 minutes, the Warriors couldn’t kick on. They were always ahead but it was never comfortable and they only sealed the result with four minutes to play, when Shaun Johnson sent Addin Fonua-Blake in under the posts.
They dominated possession (56 per cent) and yardage and enjoyed an 11-5 penalty count, while the Tigers completed at only 63 per cent. But the Warriors couldn’t stamp their authority on the contest, with Webster saying it was down to a lack of concentration.
“We could have a million training sessions but what we need to fix, we could fix in a second,” said Webster. “It is just our mindset, flicking the switch and concentrating for longer. Before the bye, we had lots of momentum, knew what we were doing. I still think we know what we are doing but we are just not concentrating for long periods. It’s not in a training session. It’s in the boys’ heads. I know they can fix it quick. It doesn’t worry me at all.”
Andrew Webster during a Warriors training session. Photo / Photosport
Captain Tohu Harris, who scored a vital try, set up another and was typically busy on both sides of the ball, agreed with Webster’s sentiments.
“It is a concentration issue,” said Harris. “We are still the same team, I don’t know why the concentration is lacking at times but it is not as good as what we can be, so it is certainly something that we need to address.”
The Warriors were also affected by the loss of hooker Wayde Egan, who left the field in the 23rd minute after copping an elbow to the throat and was later sent to hospital, though Webster assured it was precautionary.
“When you get hit in the throat and something goes wrong, you want to be in hospital,” explained Webster. “Nothing has gone wrong but we couldn’t risk him for a return and the safest place for him to get checked was the hospital.”
Johnson handed over most of the goal-kicking duties to Adam Pompey, due to a lingering quadricep issue.
Webster said it isn’t affecting the rest of the halfback’s game but causes pain when he kicks, so Pompey is likely to continue in the role for a few weeks.
