KEY POINTS:
Michael Witt could be excused for wanting to prove a point when the New Zealand Warriors look to get their National Rugby League campaign back on track on Sunday.
But the 23-year-old five-eighth says it won't be on his agenda when he lines up against his previous club,
competition leaders Manly, in Sydney.
Witt's career stalled last year when he made just one NRL appearance for the Sea Eagles, and at Brookvale Oval he will mark the player who kept him in reserve grade, Travis Burns.
While that could have been a motivating factor, Witt said he was approaching the game like any other.
"Some people might look at it that way, but I don't really care about proving anything to anybody," he said.
"It doesn't worry me anymore. I've moved on. I'm in New Zealand and I'm a Warrior now."
Of more concern was continuing to cement his starting spot for the Warriors, for whom he gets wear the No 6 jersey for the fourth week in a row.
He was happy with his progress so far at his new club, being especially pleased with his one-one-one defence and lack of missed tackles.
The main area to brush up on was his combination with his teammates and "making sure we're on the same page".
After their best start to an NRL season with two wins from their first two matches, the Warriors were slow out of the blocks last weekend as they slumped to a 30-12 defeat away to Melbourne.
They are in the midst of a tough block of fixtures, which began with games in successive rounds against last year's two grand finalists, premiers Brisbane and the Storm.
After Manly, their next two encounters are against the two other top-three sides in North Queensland and South Sydney.
"It's not getting easier, but the competition we're in, every week you have to turn up," Witt said.
"Certainly it's going to very difficult this weekend. It's pretty hostile at Brookie. We'll have to put on a better performance than last week."
Against the Storm, Witt was a notable early substitution as Melbourne ran out to a handy lead, although he came back on in the second half.
Coach Ivan Cleary explained his rationale for the move, indicating that it wasn't dissatisfaction with Witt's performance.
He wanted to put on substitute second rower Epalahame Lauaki to add more grunt up the middle and that meant moving Simon Mannering from the forwards to the backs.
The result was that either centre Lance Hohaia or Witt had to make way.
"It meant Lance or Witty came off and it just happened to be Witty on the day," he said.
"We made that move in the trials and it will happen again."
Manly have worked their way to the top of the table without attracting the same attention as the three other unbeaten teams -- the Cowboys, Souths and the Storm.
Their wins have come against a trio of less fancied teams in Canberra, Wests Tigers and the Sydney Roosters, and the Warriors represent their biggest test so far.
However, they are firm favourites with the bookmakers, even though they could be without skipper Matt Orford, veteran forward Steve Menzies and Kiwi centre Steve Matai for the third successive week.
In the Warriors' favour is their recent history at Brookvale Oval, where they have won on their last four visits.
- NZPA
