League: Warriors coach Stephen Kearney urges Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to simplify his game

Warriors coach Stephen Kearney has praised the efforts of captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck but has urged the fullback to simplify his game to help him return to his running best.

Tuivasa-Sheck has enjoyed an outstanding season overall but has been frustrated and disappointed by the side's recent inconsistency and his own performances in consecutive defeats to Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

It's not as if he has been playing poorly of late, but Tuivasa-Sheck was the first to accept responsibility for failing to finish attacking chances when they were on offer against the Storm and for not stepping up when the result was in the balance against the Titans.

He still topped the running metres (229 from 20 runs) against the men in purple and finished second (160 metres from 14 runs) at Cbus Super Stadium, but was left high and dry defensively as Titans playmaker AJ Brimson and wing Phillip Sami ran in two long-range second-half tries.

Ahead of today's crucial clash against St George Illawarra in Wollongong, Kearney praised his skipper's leadership in his second year in the role and backed him to bounce back to top form as the Warriors look to consolidate their place in the top eight.

"He's done a wonderful job," said Kearney.

"It's a bit unfair to look at the last two weeks if you're looking at his own performance, but in terms of his leadership he's second to none.

"Roger's captaincy is wonderful. He leads from the front and he's first to bounce out on to the training pitch.

"He's got a really good bunch of leaders around him, and all of them have done a great job and we're really determined to make sure we finish off the year the best we can."

Kearney accepted Tuivasa-Sheck's recent attacking play had lacked some accuracy and in private discussions has encouraged his No 1 to make running the ball his first priority.

He also noted the 25-year-old was still adjusting to life as a father after his fiancée Ashley Walker gave birth to the couple's first baby in June, as the pressure on the Warriors to make their first finals appearance since 2011 intensifies.

"It's been a big change for him over the course of the last month or so, he's living with a young child in the house now," he said.

"And he's the captain of the team that's in a position to jump into the finals potentially for the first time in whatever years it has been.

"So there's been a fair bit going on for Rog too, and so my advice to Rog was just to simplify it for himself and to go out there and concentrate on what he does best. And everyone knows when you see Rog running well and taking the line on first that he's in a really good head-space.

"But he sets such a high standard for himself that he's disappointed when he's an eight out of 10 and not a nine. That's why he is the type of player that he is."

Kearney hopes Tuivasa-Sheck will be a bit more selfish with the ball against the Dragons at WIN Stadium but is confident he'll make the right decisions around when to shift the ball.

"I want Roger to take opportunities and it's just getting the balance right and that's a delicate line.

"How many times has he held on to the footy and got behind the defence and then run and done whatever Rog does and had a positive result for us?

"That's a constant work-on, [for] a guy in his position to get the balance right between the running and passing and setting the outside men up effectively or taking the space yourself.

"That's a process that we're continually working on with the likes of Rog."

Meanwhile, injured second-rower Tohu Harris had surgery on his injured right knee on Friday morning with the Warriors hoping the Kiwi international will be back within three weeks.

Former captain Simon Mannering has been named as Harris' replacement on the right edge.

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