Graham Lowe: Beware the wit of Sheens

The Tigers veteran coach Tim Sheens and his shrewd assistant Royce Simmons have it in their power to put the Warriors 2009 season right out of business on Sunday afternoon.

Have no doubt about it, that's what they would have been putting in their players' heads all week. And on current form it is hard not to see the gifted Benji Marshall and his under-rated teammates putting the cleaners through the Warriors on Sunday.

The Tigers were desperately unlucky against the Broncos last weekend, losing 18-20 in a great game.

On the other hand, the Warriors against the Raiders in Canberra last Sunday were a rabble who looked totally out of their depth. They played like the Wombles, not Warriors.

Much has been said over the past week about Stacey Jones, some of it a bit unfair, but some also warranted. I'm sure even he would agree with much of the criticism. He is playing below his best, but that is not why the Warriors are as bad as they are.

Jones was left like a shag on a rock more than once last Sunday. Until some structure is put into their attack and the predictability taken out of their game, even Johnathon Thurston would struggle in this Warriors team. Thurston is used to having options running on to the ball around him.

Whenever the Cowboys playmaker had the ball at Mt Smart a fortnight ago, his teammates were all moving dynamically around him, providing options.

I'm struggling to recall one occasion in the game against the Raiders that Jones had any options to choose from, apart from the player standing alongside him who then gave it to the next bloke. I certainly can't remember a player bursting on to the ball wearing a Warriors jersey.

As usual Lance Hohaia came on and tried to get things going but by then the horse had bolted. He looked to me like a player who was very upset at not being let loose earlier and so he should.

Unfortunately the Warriors are now in one of the worst form slumps in the club's history and all the rival teams smell blood in the water. They are closing in for the kill.

Once carrying a fierce reputation, the Warriors forwards are now simply playing too soft and offer no punishment in defence to their opposites who stroll through the ruck as the Canberra forwards did last Sunday and the Cowboys forwards during their visit to Mt Smart.

Look at it this way: not a single Warriors player would let a total stranger come into his house and steal his TV from under his nose. Any player would put up a desperate fight to protect his home. I don't understand why that same level of desperation is not devoted to chasing the two competition points on offer each week. It's all about desperation and not letting the other side take the prize.

But this is not now about losing games, it is about how the games are lost. The Tigers lost last week but they went down with all guns blazing and their fans should have been proud of them - this was not the case for Ivan Cleary's men. They were meek in defeat.

At least if you chuck some youngsters in there they'll go down all guns blazing. On that note, it's great to see Kevin Locke being given a go for the Warriors - I just hope he hasn't been handed a poisoned chalice on the wing. He is not a winger.

When a team are playing badly they become like a whirlpool that sucks the good players into it and then out of form. This has definitely happened, with many of the Warriors team playing like reserve graders and getting away with it.

I feel for Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah. He has done a great job building the club's image and brand, but sadly only wins on the field can stop this good work being eroded.

I've heard people say over the past two weeks not to worry because it was about this time last year the Warriors turned their season around. Maybe they did, but that was last year and I doubt it is something Tim Sheens has lost sleep over.

I guess some may think the Warriors are under great pressure, but it is not the pressure of survival that British clubs used to face under the promotion/relegation system.

Any team that had lost a couple of games in a row soon smelt the scent of relegation and, gee, doesn't that sharpen your focus on the job at hand.

Finishing in the bottom two of the ladder meant those clubs spent the following year down in the next division, much in the same way soccer still operates in Europe today.

Television rights and sponsorship issues were a couple of the reasons promotion and relegation were scrapped in English league. But as a result you now don't see the level of desperation from any of those clubs. They are too comfortable.

If there was ever a time to get out of that comfortable chair, it is now because the Tigers mean business.

They are great at set pieces and also have the luxury of instant excitement with Benji Marshall. Tim Sheens has not coached the flair out of Marshall and encourages his playmaker to take what he sees in front of him. That's what makes Benji so dangerous: his unpredictability.

He's a fantastic player who has blossomed under his club coach and don't be surprised if he is the one who puts the game and the season out of the Warriors' reach.