Graham Lowe: Brute force found out by class teams

As a good old Sydney boy, Warriors coach Ivan Cleary will be familiar with a notorious spot in the city's eastern reaches, known as The Gap. Its notoriety comes from its attraction to those troubled souls wanting to put an end to it all by throwing themselves off the towering cliff face into the sea.

I'm not suggesting for a minute that the likeable Cleary's mood has turned depressingly dark after the narrow loss to competition front-runners the Broncos at Ericsson last weekend (although he could have been excused for despairing after earlier morale-shattering losses).

The gap Cleary would have been looking at this week is not the last leap at Watsons Bay, but is much closer to home. It's the gap that the Warrriors are increasingly demonstrating between effort and class. It's a gap which costs NRL teams vital games, and one which threatens their coach's sanity.

Last Sunday the Warriors put in one of their best displays of the season.

They matched the Brisbane side in an all-out effort for most of the 80 minutes and even gave their fans a sniff of victory.

Physically they provide most clubs in the NRL with a tough workout and the boys from Brisbane would have been glad when the final hooter went.

But like most other sides, the Broncos know that victory can be found as long as they weather the brute strength.

Sunday's game once again clearly illustrated the problem facing the troubled Warriors.

In close games, the side with class invariably wins.

Brisbane has that class, the Warriors lack it, and all the effort in the world can't make up for it.

Certainly, Cleary would have been pleased with the effort and commitment of his players. But there's not much he can do when his team is lacking genuine class. The type of class Sonny Bill Williams showed for the Bulldogs last weekend, that Andrew Johns has shown throughout his career, that Matt Orford has now brought to the Manly Sea Eagles.

Players with that sort of genuine class can, by instinct, pull a game out of the fire.

A sizeable chunk of the Warriors' salary cap must be spent on securing players who have genuine class.

The warm and fuzzy feeling after the effort from last Sunday should not disguise the issues facing this club for not only this season but next year and beyond. Strangely, they are now describing themselves as a development club. For who? It's likely that next year Warriors teams will take the field with a majority of Australian players, at a time when other NRL clubs are finding young Kiwi stars almost at will.

Identifying these classy players is one thing but not letting them slip through your fingers is another. The Warriors have a tradition of doing this.

The Auckland club needs to have a close look at how Manly have got to where they are this year.

The Sea Eagles are near the top of the table and are playing football as good as any team in the NRL. In fact, I'm on the record as saying I think they will win the competition.

Manly's success is the result of shrewd recruitment programme.

The signings of halfback Orford and centre Steve Bell from the Melbourne Storm have changed them from an average side last season to one of the pacesetters this year.

Just two players with genuine class can make the difference. If Orford and Bell were at the Warriors they would do the same for this club. It would be interesting to know if either of those two players was even on the radar of the Warriors early last year.

Manly certainly weren't flush with money and, if anything, were running a lean ship preparing for part-privatisation. But they know what they need and prepare the way to get it.

I can't help but feel that Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah and coach Cleary are being hamstrung by what could end up being a crippling player cost-cutting programme set up by their board.

Granted, the salary cap blowout they have inherited has made things tough for them, but it seems there is more to their problems than meets the eye regarding the retention and recruitment of players for next year.

I was blown away to learn that Clinton Toopi was going to Leeds. He should have been re-contracted to the Warriors months ago.

It may sound cruel but I think Brent Webb is the only other player in the backs who has that special bit of class. I also rate Lance Hohaia but he's no use to the Warriors if he's playing in the Bartercard Cup. The rest are just good journeymen players.

The club does have two outstanding front-rowers in Steve Price and Ruben Wiki. But they are in the final stages of their careers and hindering the progress of Evarn Tuimavave.

Back-rower Michael Luck has proved to be a good buy but I would like to see him starting, and going the full 80 minutes.

And a strong, clear message from the Cullen board - regarding their commitment to provide the necessary funds to build Cleary a team - is essential if he is ever to stop looking at that troublesome gap.

After a week off, round 5 of the Lion Red Fox Memorial will take place tomorrow. Match of the day has to be the top of the table clash between Mt Albert and Northcote to be played at Fowlds Park.

It should be a good contest, especially with the added spark that this is also a Roope Rooster match. I'm tipping Mt Albert to win, but Northcote are sure to test them.

Other likely winners look to be Mangere East over Marist, East Coast Bays over Papakura, and Otahuhu are a certainty to beat Te Atatu.