Andrew McFadden: We wilted under pressure

Simon Mannering captain of the Warriors walks from the field at half time during the NRL Rugby League match between the Warriors and Dragons. Photo / Marty Melville.

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden was at a loss to describe his side's woeful performance and admitted they wilted under pressure in Saturday's embarrassing 36-0 defeat to St George-Illawarra in Wellington.

McFadden was unwilling to discuss the Warriors slim finals prospects in the wake of their fourth straight loss that saw them drop to 10th on the NRL ladder with four rounds remaining in the regular season.

The demoralising six try thrashing was the second occasion in the last month they have been held scoreless, and in that time they have conceded 110 points to the Roosters, Sea Eagles, Sharks and Dragons, while managing just 26 of their own.

"I'm not even thinking about that [finals] at the moment. We've got to get ourselves up for next week so the first thing we'll be doing is looking at the reality of our performance," said McFadden.

"We're really struggling to score points at the moment and that's putting a lot more pressure on us than probably we can cope with at the moment but we certainly need to play tougher."

For the second consecutive week the Warriors dominated territory and possession throughout the opening half but were unable to convert that pressure into points with two soft tries to Justin Hunt and Mitch Rein leaving them 10-0 behind at the break.

Halves Tui Lolohea and Chad Townsend were erratic and uncertain and lost confidence and direction as the match progressed, and fullback Sam Tomkins also made some basic errors.

With no Shaun Johnson to occupy the minds of defenders the Dragons rushing defence out wide put the Warriors lateral attack under pressure.

Three more quick tries in the first 12 minutes of the second-half broke their back as the Dragons started finding holes through the middle and the Warriors had no response.

"It was much like last week, we got field position pretty comfortably, created half chances, [but] just lacked that final pass," said McFadden. "Things just aren't working for us at the moment but certainly we need to take full responsibility for how many points we gave up on home soil."

Down 22-0 the Warriors woes were summed up in the 50th minute when rookie wing Ken Maumalo was forced over the sideline while tentatively trying to score in the corner.

"We had lots of opportunities. We created lots of half chances but even Ken Maumalo, who is 115 kilos, got bowled over by Gareth Widdop five metres out. Great effort by Widdop but, really, he should score that.

"So it just shows you that things just aren't clicking for us at the moment."

Injuries to Johnson and other senior players, and the omission of Konrad Hurrell, has reduced their attacking options, but the Warriors need to quickly find some steel to prevent their campaign from becoming a complete disaster.

Dragons coach Paul McGregor lauded his side's depth and resolve to overcome the loss of three players before and during the game, including halfback Benji Marshall, and suggested the Warriors needed to do the same.

"Anyone, at this stage of the year, in your top 20, you want available," said McGregor.

"He'd [Johnson] be an important part of anyone's team. It's the same as Benji and we haven't got Benji now but we managed to find something and it's probably up to the Warriors to do that for them."

Three Things: Warriors v Dragons

1. Hoodoo continues
The longest losing streak in the NRL was extended with the Warriors falling to their 11th defeat in a row against the resurgent Dragons. Since entering the competition back in 1995 the Warriors have now lost 19 of their 23 games against the Red V with their last win coming back in 2007.

2. Warriors unable to score points
The 36-0 defeat was the Warriors worst defeat since round 10 of the 2013 season when they were walloped 62-6 at Penrith.
It was also the second occasion since round 26 of the 2009 season that they failed to score a point, however it is the second time in a month after they went down 24-0 to the Roosters in round 19.

3. Experience lacking
The Warriors are struggling to cope after losing key players Shaun Johnson, Ryan Hoffman, Thomas Leuluai and Bodene Thompson to injury. Together that group have 530 NRL games between them and the club's depth has been badly exposed in their absence.