NRL: Warriors need to talk the talk

Warriors back-rower Elijah Taylor said the side has been working hard on communication. Photo / Getty Images.

The Warriors have talked at length about how they want to be in the playoffs this season but they need to do a lot more of it - talk - if it is to become a reality.

They sit in ninth on the NRL ladder with six wins and eight defeats but will need to make their customary late-season surge if they are to come anywhere close to replicating what they did in 2011 when they played in the grand final.

On Sunday they tackle the fifth-placed North Queensland, who go into the match on the back of good wins over Canberra (40-18) and Brisbane (12-0) in their last two outings.

The Warriors concede they are too quiet during games and coach Brian McClennan has put a huge accent on improving communication. It is an area that has not only cost them points in matches but competition points, and he has adopted a new approach to get his players to be more vocal.

"If we don't talk, we get penalised," back-rower Elijah Taylor said wryly. "It's all we have been doing in training and is one way to start getting us to talk on the field, especially in those crucial sets when we miss tackles and they score. We're trying to replicate games by what we do in training."

The quiet nature of the Warriors is partly a reflection of their relative youth and inexperience. They are an exciting team but a young one. The average age of the Warriors' backline on Sunday is 21.7 - and that is bumped up by 26-year-old James Maloney.

"It's partly a culture thing," Taylor said. "You don't tell your superiors what to do. I'm starting to get more vocal. But if you talk, you have to back it up. You have to make sure you walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

"I felt like I had to earn your stripes before I could tell people what to do. I'm still in that phase. Some of us are a bit hesitant to bark at the older fellas. It's a massive learning curve for us but with people like Micheal Luck and Nathan Friend, we just have to follow them because they will lead us."

Friend returns to the starting side after a six-week layoff with a broken jaw and Luck recently made his comeback after a broken hand. The pair will add considerable steel to a side that has exposed a soft underbelly at times.

They have often played well for long patches in games only to drop off and concede soft points and that was what happened in their 20-19 defeat to Cronulla in their last start two weeks ago.

The Warriors will be without Manu Vatuvei, Sam Rapira, Jerome Ropati and Alehana Mara on Sunday but the Cowboys will be missing some of their most influential players.

Johnathan Thurston, Matt Bowen, Matt Scott, Brent Tate and James Tamou are all on State of Origin duty and second rower Tariq Sims is still out with a broken leg.

It has the Warriors as short-priced favourites with the bookies but Luck knows they need to earn the right to claim the competition points.

"It's a dangerous time to get them," he said. "They have been in white-hot form lately. They still have a lot of really good players, like Aaron Payne, Ray Thompson, Michael Morgan. They will come over with nothing to lose."

Last week's bye came at a good time for Luck, who partially dislocated the same kneecap he injured last year. He has been able to train fully this week and will play.

"A bit of strapping tape, it will be alright."

Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than that to improve the Warriors' communication.

Warriors: Kevin Locke, Bill Tupou, Ben Henry, Konrad Hurrell, Glen Fisiiahi, James Maloney, Shaun Johnson, Russell Packer, Nathan Friend, Ben Matulino, Lewis Brown, Simon Mannering (c), Elijah Taylor. Interchange: Jacob Lillyman, Micheal Luck, Sione Lousi, Feleti Mateo, Steve Rapira.

Cowboys: TBA, Ashley Graham, Antonio Winterstein, Kane Linnett, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Michael Morgan, Ray Thompson, Ashton Sims, Aaron Payne, Ricky Thorby, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Dallas Johnson. Interchange: Joel Riethmuller, Scott Bolton Jason Taumalolo, Cory Paterson, Mosese Pangai.