NRL: Loss to Titans forces Warriors back to scrapping

Warriors player Lance Hohaia slides in for a try. Photo / Dean Purcell.

The equation is now a lot more fraught for the Warriors.

Primed for a comfortable ride into the NRL playoffs after five straight victories, the club is back scrapping for a post-season berth after the Titans inflicted a second straight defeat, at Mt Smart Stadium yesterday.

The Warriors stormed to a 12-0 lead but the match turned on a blitz of first-half errors. It was Matt Rogers' class that proved decisive with the game in the balance in the final 20 minutes.

The result saw the Titans leapfrog the Warriors and maintain touch with the top four.

For the Warriors, who have slipped to eighth after also being overtaken by the Broncos, the remaining five games are all about keeping the likes of South Sydney and Parramatta at bay to ensure a return to the post season.

If there was any consolation in another seesaw round it came in the defeats suffered by the Rabbitohs and Eels that kept the Warriors two points clear of the chasers.

But Brisbane's low-scoring win over the slumping Dragons means the Warriors are now right on the bubble.

"We pretty much understand where we are," coach Ivan Cleary said.

Having their backs to the wall is hardly unfamiliar territory for a Warriors side that has flirted with dropping out of contention several times this season only to bounce back.

Their next chance to do that comes against the lowly Cronulla Sharks on Saturday night in Sydney, followed by a home match against the also-struggling Knights.

With tougher dates with Manly, Brisbane and the Eels to close the regular season, the next two weeks will go a long way to determining the side's fate.

"At this point it is purely about preparing to play well against the Sharks, who are playing pretty strongly at the moment," Cleary said. "That is all we are worried about. The rest takes care of itself."

Tries to Simon Mannering and Lance Hohaia saw the Warriors streak to a deserved lead but they handed the momentum back to the Titans when Jacob Lillyman made a hash of a kick-off.

Scott Prince slid a grubber through for centre Steve Michaels to score and then James Maloney promptly planted his kick-off out on the full as the Warriors unravelled at a decent clip.

Michaels scored again from a kick to tie up the scores at half time. Manu Vatuvei climbed strongly to put the Warriors back on top shortly after the restart but Rogers pegged them back with a strong run to the line.

The game turned for good when William Zillman blocked a Lewis Brown grubber and ran 90m to score. Rogers then took over, nailing a 40/20 kick and stepping inside Brent Tate to score the winner.

Brett Seymour scored a consolation try four minutes from the end but the damage had been done, with the Warriors left lamenting their first-half failings.

"We opened the door in that first half when we had every right to keep it closed," Cleary said.

"It was a bit inaccurate at a time when we could have been putting our foot on the throat. They were good enough to take that opportunity and get back into the game."

Lillyman's fumble of a dipping Preston Campbell kick-off started the rot, evoking memories of the round one clash between the sides.

"Bloody Preston has done it to us twice now," Cleary said.

"He did it in the first game as well where he did a short kick off and regathered it. It is almost exactly the same. I'm sure if Jake had his time again he'd decide to use his foot but it was a big play by them, especially when you score points off the back of it."

The Warriors certainly didn't get the run of the green. Brown would have scored had it not been for a dubious double knock-on call and Russell Packer was hit with a harsh accidental offside decision that enabled Rogers to score the winner.

But it was more than just poor fortune that settled the Warriors' fate. Halves Seymour and Maloney struggled with their timing and execution, while Brown didn't appear fully comfortable as a makeshift centre.

The road to the finals just got a whole heap tougher.

"It was never going to be easy but there is still a long way to go and we are still optimistic," captain Simon Mannering said. "I guess it is on us to get it right [on Saturday]."

FULL TIME SCORE
Titans 28
Warriors 20