NRL: McFadden happy with fight in final defeat

The big positive was the never say die attitude of the Warriors, led by their young brigade of rookies. Photo / Getty

The Warriors came close to upsetting the Canterbury Bulldogs but ultimately fell short 26-22 in a performance that coach Andrew McFadden believed was a reflection of their season.

As they were throughout much of this year's terribly inconsistent campaign, the Warriors were their own worst enemy in the first half before coming back from 10-points down to lead the Bulldogs 22-20 inside the final 10 minutes.

McFadden admitted his side again fell short of what was required, but took pride in their fighting spirit and commitment, despite falling to a record equaling eighth-straight loss.

"We didn't get the points in the end and that is a reflection of our season, we're just not quite good enough at the moment but certainly I'm happy that we put up a fight," said McFadden.

"I'm bitterly disappointed for the players because one of our themes around this week was to show some real team spirit and we didn't have a lot to play for but pride and that's what drove us."

The positive was the defiant attitude of the Warriors, led by their young brigade of rookies, with rookie centre Solomone Kata crossing for his 12th try of the season and his first in 10 matches and 20-year-old fullback Tui Lolohea scoring two late tries to steal a two-point lead.

Departing five-eighth Chad Townsend finished his time at the club strongly and halfback Mason Lino again looked to make his mark despite limited opportunities, while the forwards physical dominance was only negated by a slew of first-half handling errors.

Having blown numerous attacking chances the Warriors trailed 8-6 at halftime, but after losing 50-16 in their last two outings, they dug deep to prevent the opposition from kicking clear.

"We just made too many errors in the first half. I think our completion rate was 50 percent, so we made it really tough and it took a lot of juice out of us but we addressed that at halftime," McFadden said.

"The positive thing [was] that these young kids came out and they changed it, they made those small adaptions to their game and we kept going right until the end.

"It was 20-10 and it could have gone the other way but we found a way to get in front so that was pleasing."

With no Trent Hodkinson and five-eighth Josh Reynolds playing his first game since round 20 the Bulldogs lacked fluency and seemed surprised by the Warriors energetic start.

But without reaching any great heights Des Hasler's men were good enough to finish the job when it mattered, with inspirational captain James Graham charging over for the match-winner three minutes from fulltime.

McFadden said the onus was on him for not fostering a more clinical mindset in the Warriors but felt the hardships of the past two months would benefit the younger players as they look ahead to 2016.

"Clearly, in the game, in moments when you really need to hang in there, you need the players in the right mindset and I've got to take responsibility that they weren't in that.
"The circumstances have been challenging and we haven't handled that. I've got to take responsibility for that.

"We certainly can't ignore what's happened over the last couple of months and how we haven't handled the situation, but when we sit back and reflect on the season there's going to be some positives. And those young kids and the experience that they've gained is going to be one of those."