Graham Lowe: Consistency is Warriors' battle-cry

Two rounds into what promises to be a cracker season, Warriors coach Tony Kemp will have already reduced his wish-list to just one requirement - consistency.

In just seven days, he's seen his team climb from the depths of an ordinary effort against Manly to beat the Broncos convincingly at their own ranch.

In doing so, the New Zealand side have lifted the bar to a level which will make them keenly competitive this season.

All coach Kemp and his entourage will be hoping now is that their team can consistently hit the standard they set at Suncorp.

Keeping them bubbling along at this level will be Kemp's greatest challenge in a season in which injuries and suspensions promise to play a significant part. And it's a challenge which sorts the good coaches from the mediocre.

There's no way a coach can rely on the stock 15-minute motivational speech to rev his players up before each game in a 22-fixture season.

I well recall the English seasons of more than 40 matches stretching through a bitter winter when a game of cards and a few laughs over a beer would sometimes constitute a night's training - so jaded would the players be from living football day-in, day-out.

Kemp will have found his own secret of getting his players up game after game. All the hard fitness work has obviously been done pre-season, and the team looked in significantly better shape in Brisbane than at any time last year.

Winning will produce its own adrenaline to put in the team's petrol tank, but the coach will have to be alert for signs of complacency or staleness nonetheless, if they are to kick on and meet the challenge of a talented Cowboys side this weekend.

At the start of the year most Warriors supporters would have had the team with a one-win one-loss record after the first two games. Spot on, but I'll wager their picks would have been a win against Manly and a loss to the Broncos.

It is difficult to get an accurate guide on form at this stage of the season. Unlike racehorses, whose form you can judge after a couple of runs, footballers can call on their pride as part of their motivation if they have had a horror start.

The Warriors were terrible against Manly, so apart from anything else their own pride would have helped them achieve the win against the Broncos.

After five or six games we will be able to tell who the consistent teams are, not necessarily because they have won all their games. In a long season it is often better for a side to build into a consistent performance level, making small improvements as they go.

Let's hope that the seven-day turnaround in the Warriors' performance is just the start of building a better, more consistent performance game by game. Otherwise Kemp is in for many sleepless nights.

The Cowboys are genuine contenders to win the premiership because they have switched on to a brand of football that suits the talents of their players.

It is the same style of football that took the Warriors to the grand final a couple of years back.

There is no secret to it. It's just a simple approach based on a draw-and-pass game very similar to what kids play in the backyard.

The Warriors played a more expansive game against the Broncos last Saturday night and that is why they won. They dodged a couple of bullets throughout the game but this happens when you play well.

In saying that, Ruben Wiki and Steve Price laid a terrific platform in the forwards and Stacey Jones and Brent Webb had blinders.

South Sydney and the Melbourne Storm are also playing this draw-and-pass game and it's very exciting to watch. The Rabbitohs in particular showed what can be done to a team like the Eels who insist on playing the power game.

The time has come for the Auckland Rugby League to make a stand. They should pull out of the Bartercard Cup and get their own competition cranked up.

The Bartercard Cup does little for the chances of local players looking at gaining international experience. The ARL has enough strong clubs to stand alone and be restored to the showpiece of the game in this country.

I honestly can't see the benefit of the current set-up and believe Auckland needs to make this move because it will make the game here stronger.

The ARL has the financial resources to attract and retain good players from the NRL and this would ensure an interest that could propel the game locally far better than the NZRL is doing.

The move by the NZRL to try to get Kiwi players into the Aussie State of Origin is a joke which once again shows their lack of credible ideas.

State of Origin football is the jewel in the crown of league in Australia. Even more importantly, it plays a huge part in their international selection process.

Why should Kiwis be allowed to play in it? It's clear the NZRL has no credibility with Australian administrators anyway, so it's a futile argument.