Foran: Tough defence could come to define Warriors

Warriors five-eighth Kieran Foran says Sunday's 14-13 NRL win over the Sydney Roosters was built on the type of gritty defence which they hope can come to define the club.

Foran was pleased the side had bounced back to beat the Roosters after falling short in consecutive defeats to Canberra and Melbourne over the previous fortnight.

It wasn't pretty with the Warriors committing nine second-half errors as they let slip a 12-4 halftime lead before snatching victory with a Shaun Johnson penalty in the last minute.

The Roosters enjoyed a wealth of possession as they set up camp close to the Warriors line for much of the last quarter but their defence held firm - at one stage repelling the visitors throughout five consecutive sets.

"It was great," said Foran.

"We've been heading in the right direction and we've been playing some pretty tough football the last few weeks.

"We've been playing the tough resilient footy we talked about in the preseason and how we want to be known as a football club.

"And each week if we can keep playing to that standard then we're going to come away with more wins than losses."

The Warriors missed some chances to extend their lead early in the second-half before their attack dropped away as they endured long periods of tackling.

Foran conceded their attacking play lacked structure and potency but felt the side could take confidence from their brave defensive effort.

"We were out on our feet and we didn't get too many opportunities to execute the way we would have liked to but that's footy.

"We spent most of the time defending and when we did get the ball we just couldn't get into position to run our plays or run any shape at them and threaten their line.

"Sometimes you play those tough games where you've just got to grit your teeth and just hang in there and to our credit we did that."

The Warriors now have four wins after nine rounds and move up to 11th spot on the premiership ladder to sit two points outside of the top eight.

Foran was reluctant to describe the win as a turning point in their season but admitted it was important going into the representative round with their next assignment a difficult away trip to Penrith on May 13.

"It's a pretty important result in the scheme of the ladder," he said. "You try not to look at your position and where you sit this early in the year but we don't want to allow ourselves to get too far away from that eight.

"The win just keeps us on the cusp and gives us a really good opportunity to really drive forward now and try and string a couple of back-to-back wins together and start to move our way up that ladder and hopefully once we're up there we stay there.

"We're just taking it one week at a time but obviously internally we want to keep building and keep playing to that standard that we've set in the last month."

Having helped the Warriors claim three wins in five appearances since his club debut against the Gold Coast in round five, Foran was last night named in the Kiwis side for Friday's Anzac test in Canberra.

The 26-year-old has almost shaken off a nagging hamstring injury first suffered in the warm-up to the round four defeat to St George Illawarra and is finally approaching full fitness.

"I'm nearly over it. It's getting there. It felt the best it's felt in the last month so it felt really good tonight.

"It's pulled up good so fingers crossed there'll be no more niggles and I can just keep strengthening it.

"But in terms of pain levels, it's pretty much gone and I feel like I can start to push off it again which is nice."