Peter Jessup: Tigers likely to target under pressure Jones

Peter Jessup

Tim Sheens is the most experienced coach in the NRL and you can bet he has spent the past week reviewing the Warriors' games, dissecting their faults and forming a smart plan to cut them open.

The Warriors' right side has been the target of opposition attacks this year because once Manu Vatuvei fixed the problem with his hands it made no sense to kick to the Tongan blockbuster.

Opponents have found a disturbing lack of communication down the right channel that has resulted in players breaking out of the line, missing tackles and leaving holes.

Tomorrow the Warriors are likely to start with second-rower Simon Mannering at right centre so they get a steady beginning without, hopefully, conceding early points, which has been a killer for them lately.

Also on that side will be Stacey Jones and the new kid Kevin Locke.

Jones is now like a deer in hunting season walking around with a target on its back. Canberra and the Cowboys have been running their huge forwards at him, producing off-loads and opening holes for support players.

Denan Kemp wasn't tackling well enough wide and had developed a bad habit of coming off his wing, which shows a lack of faith in those inside him. His replacement Locke has stunning ball skills but at just 20 years of age and 79kg, on debut and out of his usual position at fullback, he also will be targeted by the Tigers' playmaker Benji Marshall.

Others around Jones have let him down lately - the forwards have not been going forward to provide space on attack and his co-defenders have been leaving him open to energy-draining tackles for which he is not built. The vicious cycle repeats because making 25-odd tackles a game saps his attack.

The outcome tomorrow may depend on whether Sheens' plan is executed with precision.

The club has punted on 32-year-old Jones after a year out of the game, knowing that he no longer possesses the blistering acceleration which produced his great solo try in the only grand final the club has made - in 2002 - and aware he is not the future.

Meanwhile they got rid of 2008 half and goal-kicker Michael Witt and told 29-year-old World Cup-winning halfback Nathan Fien he was not required right now, or next season. The fact that master-coach Wayne Bennett signed Fien to the Dragons within days of the Warriors refusing him a contract extension says plenty.

The club has up-and-coming options in the halves but they are young and/or without NRL experience. Fien might have been the man to foster them on the field, while veteran Jones could have mentored them off it.

The coaching staff have made a decision that two halfbacks in the six and seven jerseys wasn't working. So the pressure goes on Jones to produce more accurate, more varied and more threatening attack to balance out the defensive issues.

Otherwise the question marks over Jones' tenure and Fien's release will keep growing.