League: Warrior blunders cost dear

Warrior Manu Vatuvei looks to get around Cowboy Luke O'Donnell. Picture / Fotopress

League is a simple game - drop the ball too many times, make too many tackles as a result and you lose.

The Warriors drop down the NRL table and their chances of making the playoffs drop too after they again failed to grind out a win after taking a lead and taking control of the game against the Cowboys on Saturday. The 24-16 result in Townsville, after they had led 16-10 just after halftime, leaves them having to win more than they lose from here on.

In this year's tight NRL, with multiple upsets every weekend so far, they do still have a chance.

But not if they keep giving away possession cheaply. The Warriors completed 23 of their 35 sets of six, the Cowboys managed 37 of 40; the Warriors therefore made 341 tackles to the home team's 259. By the end, they tired and the home side lifted.

Motivational speeches from the missing State of Origin backline inspired the Cowboys. With five backs in the Queensland team and their impact prop Carl Webb out injured, the Cowboys were expected to be easier than usual. But the Warriors, after covering a 0-10 deficit and mounting good pressure, were unable to close out the game.

Former Junior Kiwi David Faiumu scored after three minutes, Rod Jensen after nine as the home team started with vigour from the kick-off in front of a 21,000 crowd.

Manu Vatuvei replied mid-way through the half and at the end of it Wairangi Koopu crossed to level the scores after sustained pressure.

When Lance Hohaia put Ruben Wiki over early in the second spell, that should have been it.

But Jensen scrambled to cover a loose ball at his own end of the field and after handling twice more he scored at the other.

Justin Smith achieved a desperate dive to tap Brent Webb down as he seemed set to score. They are the sort of incidents that lift a team.

The Warriors missed their chance to regain control when Francis Meli was penalised for tackling former team-mate David Myles while he was airborne accepting a kick.

Video referee Steve Nash denied a try and wing Cowboy Neil Sweeney sealed it with two minutes left.

Cowboys coach Graham Murray said that videotaped messages from the five Origin players had made the difference.

"Our Origin boys said some pretty inspirational stuff and it had an effect because the boys played above themselves and came up with one of the best wins I've been associated with in my time at the Cowboys," Murray said.

"It's good to win every NRL game but that was pretty special tonight [considering] the number of players out, the number of players in different positions, the way they just handled the whole thing."

Kiwi prop Paul Rauhihi was inspirational, playing on with a torn rib cartilage that the Cowboys doctor said would have hurt badly with every contact.

Murray: "When we said to the bench, 'Is Rauhihi available?' he said, 'I'm not sure but I'll go out and do my best. Leave one replacement for me because I might have to walk straight off'. He went out there and stayed. It's one of the toughest things I've seen in a long time." Rauhihi may be out when the Cowboys play the Knights next weekend in Newcastle.

The Warriors face the Bulldogs at Ericsson on Sunday.

They will be desperate, thrashed 33-6 in Melbourne on Saturday. The game will show if the Warriors can make the finals. They need to win five of eight remaining games, four of which are at home. In a fortnight they play the Origin-depleted Roosters in Sydney, a chance that has to be secured.

So was last Saturday. "We know we've missed a good opportunity," said coach Tony Kemp. "Judging by the mood afterwards it won't be hard to get them up for Canterbury."

Kemp was disappointed with the amount of turnover ball.

They knew the Cowboys would try and mount pressure through their completion rate which was one of the highest in the NRL, Kemp said.

They have suffered a loss of face but no physical injuries. There is little point in Kemp making wholesale changes to the team at this stage.

If nothing else, it is more important to get their act together for season 2006 so they do not continue to lose games they should win.