League: Warriors determined to keep pressure on Souths

The battle between Souths and the Warriors tonight is one for concentration.

Both have struggled to win after leading other teams and both have been run down close to the end of matches.

Warriors captain Steve Price feels that they are improving in terms of learning how to put teams away.

"Newcastle proved that, Andrew Johns or no Andrew Johns," he said of their win there three weekends ago.

"We didn't play great but we hung in, we toiled away and to come back in front of 20,000 of their fans, I thought that was great."

But then they slipped against Manly and Canberra.

"I've seen so much improvement, on and off the field, in the preparation, in the way we train."

Consistent performance, the right attitude and self-belief could produce a run of wins as it did for the Tigers and Cowboys last season, he felt, and there was no way the Warriors considered themselves off the pace.

"It doesn't take much and we're not far off it."

There are no easy-beats in the NRL as Souths proved with a tough grind against the Bulldogs last weekend.

But the Rabbitohs are weakened by injury and they remain short of the X-factor players - they are a team the Warriors should beat at home.

It's a point not lost on coach Ivan Cleary.

"If you don't win at home it's going to be a long year," he said.

They would not underestimate Souths, who had been playing similar football to the Warriors, good in patches and lapsing in patches.

There was no sense of building frustration despite losses in two games they might have won against the Sea Eagles and Raiders, Cleary said, but they did have to make sure they learnt from those experiences.

It wasn't a case of individuals letting them down, rather that the side as a whole hadn't been able to push home in close games. They had to learn to harden up in key moments in games.

Director of football John Hart said he was happy with the direction in which the club was headed. They have to work with what players they have, given the restraints of the salary cap, and more emphasis was being put on development.

The use of young players such as Patrick Ah Van who made his debut two weeks ago and Misi Taulapapa who starts this weekend would ultimately add to the depth in the club and the competition for places.

Warriors interchange forward Richard Villasanti withdrew yesterday with a knee injury. Wing Manu Vatuvei is not expected to be available for next weekend's game against the Bulldogs at Ericsson, shortening his odds of Anzac test selection, but Jerome Ropati, who is also recovering from a hamstring strain, is a more likely prospect for both.

Among Souths players not considered for this game were Scott Geddes (pectoral muscle), Beau Champion (ankle), Luke Stuart (knee) and Luke MacDougall (suspension).

Souths this week signed Parramatta assistant Jason Taylor as their assistant coach for 2007, hoping he would join them immediately, but that looks unlikely after defence coach Peter Sharp's departure for England.

* The Waitakere Rangers play the Canterbury Bulls in the Bartercard Cup curtainraiser tonight at 5.30.

* Manly lock Ben Kennedy has made himself available for the Anzac test and State of Origin this year and will retire at the end of the season.

* In England, Great Britain coach Brian Noble has resigned his post at Bradford to take up the reins at Wigan after Ian Millward's sacking.

The Stats

The Warriors have won 11 of 14 games between the clubs.

The Warriors have won the last nine contests in a row, including four at Ericsson Stadium.

The score in this game last season was Warriors 46-14.

Warriors v Rabbitohs
Ericsson Stadium, 7.30 tonight

Warriors

Brent Webb
Todd Byrne
Tony Martin
Clinton Toopi
Misi Taulapapa
Grant Rovelli
Nathan Fien
Ruben Wiki
George Gatis
Steve Price (c)
Awen Guttenbeil
Wairangi Koopu
Louis Anderson
Interchange (from): Sione Faumuina, Evarn Tuimavave, Micheal Luck, Lance Hohaia, Sam Rapira (one to be omitted).

Rabbitohs

Todd Polglase
Nathan Merritt
Yileen Gordon
A MacDougall
Shannon Hegarty
John Sutton
Ben Walker
Peter Cusack (c)
Shane Walker
Jaiman Lowe
David Fa'alogo
Joe Galuvao
Shane Rigon

Interchange (from): Mike Greenfield, Stuart Webb, Ben Rogers, Mark Minichiello, Paul Mellor, Shannan McPherson.