KEY POINTS:
The big talking point this week has been the Warriors' dreadful start to the season in away games.
Three times they've been across the ditch and three times they've been not just beaten, but belted massively.
The media straight away have been on their back about the inability to win away and that's fair enough, because at the end of the season if they can't win away, they're never going to win the title.
But in fairness, if you looked at the draw at the start of the season and asked which games they would struggle in when playing in Australia, Melbourne, Manly and North Queensland would have been top of the list. They are three games where you would expect them to be beaten.
The disturbing thing, I guess, is not the three losses but the manner of them. They have been completely inadequate both on attack and in defence when playing away from Mt Smart. They now have themselves the dubious distinction of the competition's worst points differential, they have the most points scored against them and so they are the worst defensive outfit of the 16 teams in the NRL.
I have to be thankful for just one thing - I'd rather have our record with three wins from six than that of Souths, none from six. And I have faith in the Warriors' head coach Ivan Cleary and assistant John Ackland and the rest of the coaching staff to bring them through this as they did the run of six consecutive losses last season. But I don't believe that's going to happen before this weekend - look out for another 20- to 30-point loss against competition-leaders the Gold Coast on Sunday.
The manner of the away losses is so concerning because it seems they are a completely different team when away. Gone is the completion rate and the attacking confidence and with it the solid defence, so they always do too much tackling, then errors follow because of fatigue. It's a vicious cycle.
Many people have asked "Why?" The best answer I've heard came from former Warriors coach Tony Kemp earlier this week when he said it is simply the top two inches. Kempy went on to state that the Canterbury Crusaders had no trouble winning away (generally) despite having to travel much greater distances to Perth and South Africa in their short season while the Warriors have what is essentially a long domestic flight in crossing the ditch.
I don't have any answers. If I did, Cleary and Co. would be beating a path to the front door as I'm sure it will be worrying them, given the work they've already done to try and correct the problem, routines that are not yet working.
The only thing I can recommend is under no circumstances should they consider bringing in a high-performance head shrink like Gilbert Enoka because anything Gilbert touches, whether teams turn to him in times of desperation or whether he's called in when things are going well, turns to custard. Just look at the All Blacks, the Black Caps and Team New Zealand.
