Graham Lowe: Fire up the flair and go for glory

It will take something special to lift the Warriors into the playoffs.

They have won only two games in a row on a couple of occasions this season and now they must get on a roll. There are two key ingredients for them to achieve that: Monty Betham must provide leadership to the young players with an aggressive but disciplined game, and those players must provide a stage for the game-breakers such as Stacey Jones, Brent Webb, Lance Hohaia and Clinton Toopi.

Betham has the commitment and attitude they need. You cannot question the intensity with which he plays. I've been a critic of him for giving away too many penalties but at this stage it is his approach that is needed, in tandem with the flair of the others.

If they play as if they are trying not to lose, they will lose. There's a big difference between playing like that and playing with confidence, but in recent weeks it looks as if the Warriors are slowly gaining some self-belief.

 

The guys who have the flair - Jones, Hohaia, Webb and Toopi - have to come out. Two years ago Toopi was the best centre wearing football boots, and if he can come right now, he can do it for them. So can Jones or Webb or Hohaia.

It is a huge plus for them having Steve Price back to provide some settling-down when needed, or a kick up the bum when needed.

The Warriors have the talent to make the playoffs - talent that other sides dream of, and those players must stand up and be counted.

In the end it will be the coaching staff who are held accountable for the outcome of their season. The players will still be there next season because they are contracted. It will be the staff who get the chop if the team have under-achieved.

The players owe the staff big-time. It's time they pulled their finger out and showed what they can do.

The motivation they should have is that the hardest part of the whole thing is making the finals. If the Warriors make it, the world is their oyster. It would be a big confidence-booster. And once you are in the playoffs, anything can happen.

They were not beaten by a better side in 2002 when they made the title game. The Roosters played the type of football they had played all year. The Warriors did that for the first half and fell away in the second, but if they had stuck to the football that had got them there, playing positively, they could have won.

Their game-breakers went into their shells.

Those same game-breakers can win the remaining matches if the others provide the platform. If the Warriors do get into the playoffs, I'm sure those attacking players will respond.

Players of the likes of Jones, Webb, Hohaia and Toopi respond to an opportunity, whereas the others might respond to a challenge. It is up to the rest to give them that opportunity.

Penrith should be beaten tomorrow night. John Lang is my style of coach, but I think he's made the mistake of falling in love with a few of his players. He's been too kind with some of them. He should have straightened them out long ago.

It is easy to think your side are going better than they are; to look at the statistics and talk about completion rates and missed tackles instead of dissecting what happened on the field. I think that's one of the things that went wrong with the Warriors after 2002.

Penrith need the flair of Craig Gower and Preston Campbell, and they need the platform provided for them, but that is not happening.

The Warriors have the better team right now and should take them.