NRL: Lillyman holds onto hope

Jacob Lillyman of the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

Among all the dejection and disappointment in the aftermath of the Warriors' 40-10 thumping at the hands of Brisbane, Jacob Lillyman felt it necessary to relay a story of hope.

It wasn't about a child who overcame desperate poverty in Ethiopia or the terminally ill patient who made a full recovery. This one was about a Cowboys side who were hammered 50-6 by the Wests Tigers in the first round of the playoffs in 2005 only to then topple Melbourne and Parramatta to qualify for the grand final.

The story didn't have an entirely happy ending, with the Tigers beating the Cowboys 30-16 in the grand final to win their first and only premiership since the merger of Wests and Balmain in 2000, but it served to illustrate the Warriors aren't necessarily out of the running in 2011 despite their inept performance against Brisbane.

The Prophet Lillyman delivered his sermon soon after Saturday night's embarrassing defeat and he now just needs his followers to heed the message. Lillyman sees plenty of similarities between the Warriors predicament and that of the Cowboys six years ago.

"It's very much the same sort of feeling,'' the 27-year-old front-rower said. "We survived and then came out and went on to make the grand final. I have already mentioned that to the boys. It's not like it hasn't been done before. It's possible. It's just whether we are prepared to do whatever it takes and put our bodies on the line. The ball's certainly in our court.

"There are quite a few similarities. The disappointment of getting beaten like that is enough to drive you to try to get redemption, to try to make things right. I can remember the boys at the next week of training [in 2005] just ripping in, just fizzing and wanting to get out there and make amends. We went out there the next week and beat Melbourne, who at that stage were heavily favoured to take it out. I think the disappointment of it all and wanting to make things right will be enough to drive us."

The Warriors went through the emotional wringer last weekend. They turned up to Brisbane over-confident only for that to be smacked out of them. They then faced the entirely possible scenario of being eliminated from the playoffs after their worst performance of the year, especially after watching the Cowboys establish an early lead against Manly in Saturday's late game - the Warriors would have been eliminated if the Cowboys won.

There was widespread confidence Melbourne would beat Newcastle on Sunday but, as the Warriors showed in 2008 when they beat the Storm 18-15 at Olympic Park to become the first eighth-placed team to beat the minor premiers, sport is unpredictable.

"It was a sense of relief," Lillyman admitted when they realised they were still alive. "There were a few different feelings _ a bit of joy in there as well to get another shot. It was a weight off our shoulders because it would have been a terrible way to finish the year. It was good to get another shot.

"Overconfidence won't be an issue [on Friday]. Just talking to the guys, you can see how disappointed they were after the Brisbane game. That feeling is really going to drive us. You are going to see a much better performance.

"I don't think you will see us trying too much fancy stuff. We will roll our sleeves up and do the hard yards first. Knowing it's do or die just brings that element of desperation into it. There was always a chance in the weekend we would still be in even if we lost and that was the case. This week it's all or nothing. We will be primed and looking to get our preparation perfect to ensure we come out firing."

After that, Lillyman grabbed his pulpit gown and moved on to his next audience. He and his team-mates will hope to deliver a message of a different kind when they take on the Wests Tigers on Friday night.