League: Kiwi Panther fired up for Warriors

The rugby league season is gone for the Penrith Panthers, but their departing Kiwis second rower Joe Galuvao says there will be plenty to motivate them against the New Zealand Warriors at Penrith tomorrow.

Penrith's loss to the North Queensland Cowboys last weekend was their ninth in 11 games and extinguished any chance they had of making the National Rugby League top-eight this season.

But Galuvao said there was still plenty of resolve at the club.

"Straight after that game last weekend we gathered together and talked about our goals for the rest of the season," he told NZPA.

"When you are playing for a semifinal spot it is motivation enough, but when you have got nothing to play for, for the rest of the season, you have to reassess your goals.

"We sat down and decided we just want to win games. Avoiding the wooden spoon is motivation enough to put our heads down and win games."

There have been more talks since, one initiated by Galuvao's great mate, Tony Puletua, who has missed most of the season with a pectoral muscle tear, about the need to finish the season strongly.

Galuvao, whose season has also been injury-affected, said it did not take much to gee him up when it came to playing the Warriors.

"It's always fun to play against the Kiwi boys. We have a strong Kiwi contingent at Penrith with the Puletua brothers (Tony and Frank), Franky Pritchard and myself, so it is good for us to put in a strong performance against the Warriors."

Galuvao starts on the interchange bench tomorrow night and said he was itching to get more game time.

It is not just avoiding the wooden spoon that is spurring Galuvao. Strong performances at the end of the NRL season would strengthen his credentials for playing for the Kiwis in their Tri-Nations matches in October.

"With the goal of semifinals football gone, the next thing for me is to get a Kiwis jersey again. What I am concentrating on is playing well week in and week out and if it (Kiwis selection) comes, it comes."

Galuvao is also looking forward to the return of his "hair bear" mate Puletua, who is expected to play in about three weeks.

"We'll only have a few games together, so we will want to make the most of it," said Galuvao, who heads to South Sydney next season.

"It's a good incentive for the pair of us."

And as for the Warriors?

Galuvao said the Panthers have to concentrate on their own game and put together a complete performance, sadly lacking from them this season.

"But we watched a video of their last game today and they built their football around a good solid go-forward.

"If we can stop that and slow their play-the-ball down we should do well. And if they start their razzle-dazzle, we have to keep our heads and not shoot out of the line, because they can hurt you.

"We have to keep our composure and hopefully pressure them into mistakes."

- NZPA