Steve Deane: Will the real Warriors please stand up

The Great Britain prop Stuart Fielden once described his Bradford side as "like Jeckyll and Hyde on a rollercoaster".

The Warriors seem to suffer from a similar identity crisis, going from bumbling fools to world beaters at the flick of a switch.

For 60 minutes against the Roosters yesterday they were the former. But for the final 20 minutes it was men against chicks. It was much the same against Newcastle last week.

It's doubtful even the players themselves know why they have been so inconsistent, but in a game where emotion and confidence count for so much, yesterday's dramatic win could be the boost they so badly needed.

It would be overstating the case to say Stacey Jones' golden point field goal saved their season, but at the very least it averted a mini-crisis.

With away matches against Melbourne and St George followed by a bye over the next three weeks, the Auckland club were facing the very real possibility of heading into round 10 with just two wins to their name.

Such a predicament would not necessarily have been fatal, but it surely would have been a long way back.

Dramatic late charges after prolonged slumps have been the Warriors' stock and trade in recent seasons, but that wasn't supposed to happen this year.

The club was billed as having enough depth to avoid dramatic fluctuations in its fortunes. That might still prove to be the case.

But the overriding impression of their early efforts this season is that they still rely heavily on a small number of key players. Without Steve Price, Manu Vatuvei and Lance Hohaia, they wouldn't go far.

The same, though, can be said of just about any NRL club. Remove the pack leader, the strike winger and an X-factor utility, and any team would suffer.

And, in fairness to the Warriors, their injury bug has bitten a lot deeper than just the trio of stars who returned for yesterday's enthralling comeback.

Brent Tate is a huge loss, as much for his attitude as his pace and poise. Kangaroo test centres don't just grow on trees. Some head to Warrington, turn out to be useless and end up flicking their own fans the bird, but they're still fairly hard to come by.

The Warriors can replace Tate in their line-up, but that ain't the same thing as filling the void left by his absence.

Another key absentee has been Evarn Tuimavave, a forward nearing the peak of his powers, while Wade McKinnon is still nowhere near back to his best after recovering from major knee surgery.

All that adds up to a hell of a lot to get over at just the start of a long, gruelling season.

Had they lost yesterday, something that looked likely when Hohaia bombed an early try and the Roosters pecked them apart to the tune of a 16-0 half-time lead, there's no guarantee the Warriors would have bounced back at all.

Instead, thanks to another vital intervention from the mercurial Jones, a recovery looks distinctly possible.

The biggest thing in their favour is that, having taken a heap of lumps already, they should get stronger as the season goes on.

The key to winning the NRL is firstly to be in the playoffs. From there, sides need to be in form and as close as possible to full strength. Nothing that has happened so far to Warriors - save the loss of Tate - should prevent that from happening.

The flipside of that is nothing they've yet done suggests it will happen. They aren't dominating opponents; they make too many errors and they are predictable on attack. And they are only ever an injury or two away from being well off the pace.

The one thing this year's team has shown is plenty of heart, and it seems doubtful they will ever be boring.

One of the more amusing football chants was sung by rival fans at Rangers matches after it became public knowledge that goalkeeper Andy Goram was receiving treatment for a mild form of schizophrenia. "There's only two Andy Gorams," the fans famously sang.
Right now it's unclear just how many Warriors teams there are. Instead of wondering which team will turn up for each match, it seems Warriors fans better get used to pondering which team will front for each and every set of six.

Weekend winner

Missing the cricket already? Fear not. The IPL, South Africa style, is up and running. The Kiwis have been slow to make an impression, with Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor making first and second ball ducks in their opening match for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, and Jacob Oram making just 8 for the Chennai Super Kings. The Kiwi trio get another chance tonight, though, when their teams face off in Port Elizabeth. Set the alarm for 2.20am tomorrow.

What to watch

They may have done it the hard way and left their fans badly in need of a blood pressure check, but the Warriors got the job done. If they do go on to great things this season, they might just look back at this victory over the Roosters as the starting point.

Fair play, too, to the bloke with one leg who beat me in the 750m version of the King of the Bays. You may be an inspiration to many, but I'm still going to take you next year.