Graham Lowe: It's no way to talk about a man's mother

As the season heads into its top-eight showdown, motivation should be coming easy for the players in the various contending teams.

The fact is if a sniff of finals football is not motivation in itself, then I can't imagine what would be.

Coaches have different methods of motivating players from "did I tell you what the opposition said about your mothers?" to "did you know they've already produced T-shirts with Champions of the World printed on them?"

The secret for a coach is to find the switch to rev his players up, and hold it on full for as long as possible. But that's not always easy, and not every player will respond, especially in a 30-game season.

But motivation is not something the coach applies half an hour before the game; it's a process that starts when the squad is assembled for the first time at the beginning of each season.

Motivating the players is just another term for giving them a reason to perform.

Matthew Ridge was at Manly while I was coach there. He never needed any motivation because he was, and probably still is, a highly competitive person.

But he is the exception rather than the rule. Most players not only need motivating, they enjoy and look forward to it as part of their pre-match build-up.

Dragons coach Nathan Brown was under the hammer last year because of his very emotional approach to his players and his job. But it is that approach and motivation that has now propelled the Dragons into strong premiership contenders and they are starting each game full of fire.

It's all very well, however, sending a side out prepared to run through brick walls for 20 minutes. Too often New Zealand-based (and even Kiwi) sides have taken the field breathing fire, and belted the hell out of the opposition for the first quarter.

But if a coach motivates his players at the right times and with the correct messages he can and will get the desired effect not only for the 80 minutes of the first match, but for the entire season.

Australian sides have learned to be patient, especially against the Warriors, until the fire subsides, and then they start mounting the points up.

Once again last Saturday night it was disappointing to see the Warriors produce a 40-minute effort in a must-win match.

Words fail me when I try to explain to my mates here in Brisbane what I think is wrong with the Warriors. Like most fans of the game, these guys cannot understand why the New Zealand club has again failed to deliver.

It's absolutely tragic that the only answer they have to call on now to help them make the finals is that well-known gamebreaker, A. Calculator.

Once teams start clinging to the mathematical "we can still make it" mantra, they are wood ducks.

That the Warriors have lost so many games by less than five points and have often not been able to build on a lead shows there is something deeply wrong at the club. It raises the issue of just what is being drummed into the players, and what is being done to motivate them.

There's no doubt the Warriors have a good squad despite some players having regular brain explosions - certainly good enough for a coach to be able to do something with.

I was surprised and dismayed to read that coach Tony Kemp did not think PJ Marsh had an effect on the game last weekend, adding with something of a sense of satisfaction that he did get smashed a couple of times.

I think Kemp would have been better occupied concentrating on trying to stop the free-pass passage most teams have found down each flank of the Warriors defence, 10 metres in from the sideline.

Marsh is a quality player who the Warriors have not been able to replace. Kemp's comments were not only fanciful, but disrespectful. Suffice to guess just who is having the last laugh this week.

And whoever came up with the idea of letting Stacey Jones go (it's clear he is still their most effective, if not their ONLY, attacking option) should resign immediately.

And while I'm warmed up on the subject, I've also got to say the idea of having a wrestling coach on the staff is another bloody joke. Perhaps a grabbing and stopping coach would have been much more effective for the Warriors' leaky second-half defence.

This is a team that is crying out for an experienced, proven football coach. A coach who can instil discipline, leadership and confidence.

Everything else is window dressing.

In terms of league in New Zealand, the Warriors are a big fish in a little sea. Because of that they do not cop anywhere near the scrutiny that teams in Australia face on a weekly basis.

This gives them a false sense of security and the other NRL teams are preying on it.

Yet the Warriors are still getting reasonable crowds, which shows just how popular league is in New Zealand.

Despite this, I still don't think the average fan is fooled by some of the nonsense that comes out of the club regarding the recruitment of players and the reasons for letting some go.

I can only assume that before long heads will roll.

I like many others was hoping Kemp would be up to this job.

Based on his record, I don't think he is. And if we are fed the spin that next year is another building year, they won't be able to give the tickets away.