KEY POINTS:
Wairangi Koopu admits it was something of a shock when he was dropped after the Warriors' 52-6 hiding in Manly.
Of course you can't blame one man for a horror show like that. But it rocked Koopu's confidence, he admits, and brought him a sharp reminder that he is not indispensable.
Recalled to the team this week after four playing for the Auckland Vulcans, he intends grabbing his chance against the Gold Coast and making the most of it.
"It was a big wake-up call for me. I realised after the Manly game that it might be my last, that I would not get the chance to erase that, so for me that's big motivation this weekend. It gave me some perspective. I don't want my last game for the Warriors to be like that one in Manly, I don't want to go out on a bad note."
Koopu has 154 games for the Warriors since debut in 1999, only the fourth player to top 150 at the 14-year-old club. Age 28, he's off contract at the end of this season but would love to build on the 10 years he has had with the Warriors.
"I'd love to stay here and see out my career. If I have to leave I'll be gutted. I look at Ruben [Wiki] and see carrying on to 34 or 35 as a possibility. England might be an option but really I want to stay here."
Obviously it was not great to make his return after another big away loss, Koopu said.
The team had spoken "pretty seriously" about the difference between their home and away performances. "We always know we're going to turn up at home. Away, we're always doubtful. That doubt nags at our confidence sometimes I think and we go from bad to worse. We're letting everyone down, most of all ourselves. We know we're better than that - there's not too many excuses. It's a mental thing."
Koopu said they had spoken about dealing with crowds, going from Mt Smart "where everyone is yelling for us and people are calling us by name to encourage us, to the Aussie stadiums where everyone is booing and calling us shitkickers". They had to harden up, make their own luck.
"We're more quiet in defence when we're away, I don't know why. Those are the sorts of things we're working on."
Koopu said he was just "hoping to bring what I can" to the team, as he shifts from centre back to the forwards as bench impact player.
It has been at the back end of the first half and the front end of the second - when Wiki is off the field via the interchange - that opponents have found the Warriors' tryline and often taken the game away from them, a la last weekend in Townsville.
Koopu is fast for a forward and should smarten their defence as an individual, as well as providing more leadership for the younger players coming off the interchange.
WAIRANGI KOOPU
Born: 2/4/1980 Opotiki
Height: 187cm
Weight: 97kg
Position: Second rower, lock
Junior club: Taniwharau.
NRL debut: R6 1999, 154 games for the Warriors, 34 tries
Test debut: 2004, 3 games for the Kiwis
