KEY POINTS:
For one team, it could be the match that turns around their season. For the other, it could be another bad day at the office in a long, hard year.
The Warriors and Bulldogs are desperate to win this afternoon at Mt Smart Stadium given both are experiencing dangerously lean patches that threaten to derail their seasons.
The Warriors have lost four in a row and the Bulldogs three to leave both at the wrong end of the NRL table.
But Warriors coach Ivan Cleary is confident his side aren't far from reversing their slide.
"The biggest thing is to keep believing in us as a team and everyone as an individual," he said. "If you keep doing that, then maybe something will turn for us. It might be all we need."
Cleary thinks his side might be trying too hard - their astronomically high tackle count in recent weeks suggests they aren't short on effort - as they try to arrest the slump. Confidence has also taken a hit as the losses mount.
"It's one of those competitions that are so even that there's little difference in the way you're playing when you're winning and you're losing," he said.
"I don't really know why it is happening - it could be a little bit of chemistry or that we're trying too hard. A win would do an enormous amount of good."
Skipper Steve Price said the key for the Warriors was for the younger players to remain confident and cut the silly errors that have blighted their game in recent weeks.
"We have some young individuals who can be fragile at times. It's going to turn around but it's not going to if you start to lose faith and confidence in yourself.
"As a senior player, I just have to keep drilling into them about consistency."
