KEY POINTS:
Everyone else might have their calculators out as a highly competitive National Rugby League season reaches the business end, but not Steve Price.
The only thing the New Zealand Warriors' inspirational skipper is thinking about is beating fellow playoff contenders Newcastle in Auckland on Saturday night.
To Price, worrying about the number of points the Warriors might need to make the cut for September football would be merely a distraction.
"You can get carried away and say, 'We've got six more games, if we win so many of those, we'll be right in there'."
Price believed the key to the Warriors' run of five wins in the past six rounds, which has put them firmly in the frame for the semifinals, was not thinking about the points table.
"We haven't been worried about the points we're on and the points you supposedly need to make the eight," he said.
"As soon as you do that, you put the horse before the cart and you get all over the show.
"We're just doing the right thing of making sure we're getting every little thing done through the week, planning well for the game and playing well at the weekend."
After a six-match losing streak during May and early June, the Warriors' change in fortunes has lifted them to sixth on the ladder.
But the closeness of the 16-team competition this season means that even the team in 15th spot, the Sydney Roosters, still have a sniff of making the playoffs.
Price was looking for a lift in performance from the Warriors after their patchy 28-16 win over the Wests Tigers in Sydney last weekend.
The Warriors looked to be heading a comfortable victory until they let in two late tries, and they might have been sweating a little more if the Tigers had not missed every goal attempt.
"When we reviewed it, it probably wasn't the way we would have liked to have played the game," Price said.
"We've had to get back to the drawing board this week. We're coming up against a team who are pretty desperate."
Newcastle are 11th, just two points below the Warriors.
But they have lost four of their last five matches and seen their for-and-against points differential balloon out to a league-worst minus-150.
Unlike the Warriors, whose whole squad are healthy, the Knights continue to be beset by injuries.
Coach Brian Smith has already used 36 players this season, more than any other club, and those sidelined this week include influential skipper Danny Buderus.
Meanwhile, Price, 33, has no real explanation for the purple patch of form he has hit in what is supposed to be the twilight of his career.
He is carrying the ball for more metres in this campaign than he can remember and against the Tigers he again topped 200m.
His present tally of 2936m for the year is the highest in the NRL and gives him an average of 196m per game, or 50m more than anyone else.
His total of hit-ups, at 338, is also way above his nearest rivals.
The improved form of the Warriors this season, compared with the first two after his move from the Bulldogs, had made it easier for him to focus on his primary job of setting the platform up front.
But apart from that, "I'm not sure why" is his reply when asked about his prolific statistics.
"It's just the way it's ended up," he said.
"I've been a little more involved and I've to improve my game a little, so maybe it's doing some things a little differently that they don't know about."
- NZPA
