KEY POINTS:
Slow starts after kickoff and halftime and a drop in communication under pressure are the issues the Warriors have worked on this week.
Too often they have given sides a start then had to play catch-up football, said coach Ivan Cleary and his third-line captain Micheal Luck this week.
Luck stands in for Ruben Wiki who has a wrist problem.With skipper Steve Price, centre Jerome Ropati, fullback Wade McKinnon, bench impact player Sonny Fai and wing Patrick Ah Van also injured, the Warriors are seriously down on attacking firepower.
And last night the Warriors revealed that Aiden Kirk had been injured at an opposed training run but a decision on his replacement on the wing had yet to be made.
The Raiders came to town yesterday, bar halfback Todd Carney and centre Joel Monaghan who played the City-Country game last night, with their big props promising to give new boy Russell Packer a workover.
"I know how nervous I was when I first started so we'll definitely try to test him out a little bit," prop Troy Thompson told Aussie media.
"The whole debut occasion took its toll on me, it's definitely a bit nerve-racking."
At 111kg and with experience as a Junior Kiwis captain and against the big boys of the Bartercard Cup, Packer will be more than a speed bump for the Raiders. He has great speed and leg power, and could make a name for himself.
He has to really because the team has been lacking go-forward in recent games, leading to unfair condemnation of their halves.
Luck said he had faith in Packer after watching him develop and the team would take no excuse from the injury list.
"There are 17 enthusiastic blokes."
Away, they have started slowly. At home, they have started well then let teams score easy points to get back in the game.
"That's been our main problem, we're always on the back foot," Luck said.
"It's something we're pretty determined not to let happen this weekend."
He expects Canberra to be rugged up front and to test them physically.
"They have tough forwards and crafty halves."
Better communication was required on defence and he'd be talking to the players around him and hoping that rippled out.
Cleary said adversity could often spark a good response and the casualties gave others opportunity.
The coach and captain thought the Gold Coast game was a big improvement on the previous week in Townsville and their other away defeats.
But there were too many missed tackles early on. When defence was poor "it makes everything else quite hard", Cleary said.
They had tried not to focus on the result this week, rather just to work on improving their game.
"Scoring points hasn't been the problem. If we can improve our defence that will go a long way [to securing a win]."
Cleary said he'd "like more productivity from the forwards". The Warriors' kicking game last week wasn't up to that of the Titans "but theirs was just about perfect".
Of Packer, Cleary said: "He's the sort of guy who belies his years, he has a good head on his shoulders, if anyone can do it, it's Russell. He's played [NRL] trials and hasn't looked out of place."
Packer, who is leading the Dally M NYC Player of the Year voting, has made more runs than anyone else in the under-20s competition, gaining an average of 180m a game after seven rounds. He is also a busy defender, making 47 tackles in one match and 39 in another.
Canberra have their inspirational captain Alan Tongue back after a quadriceps injury. Hooker Lincoln Withers is expected to play his first game since round five when he suffered a scratched eyeball against Wests Tigers.
Neville Costigan is out with a quads injury.
Carney and Monaghan are due to fly to Auckland today with the Raiders under-20s side.
The Warriors under-20s are also plagued by injury and could have used Packer.
Warriors under-20s: Howie Matthews, Bill Tupou, Francis Leger, Rusty Bristow, Nafe Seluini, Isaac John, Jody Henry, Mataupu Poching, Aaron Hawley, Leeson Ah Mau, Elijah Taylor, Ben Matulino, Daniel O'Regan (c); interchange Sione Lousi, Jason Tou.
Mt Smart Stadium, 4pm tomorrow
WARRIORS
Lance Hohaia
Michael Crockett
Brent Tate
Ryan Shortland
To be advised
Michael Witt
Grant Rovelli
Sam Rapira
Nathan Fien
Evarn Tuimavave
Simon Mannering
Logan Swann
Micheal Luck (c)
RAIDERS
Bronx Goodwin
Colin Best
Adrian Purtell
Joel Monaghan
Brett Kelly
Terry Campese
Todd Carney
Scott Logan
Lincoln Withers
Troy Thompson
Marshall Chalk
Nigel Plum
Alan Tongue (c)
Warriors: Ian Henderson, Russell Packer, Epalahame Lauaki, Wairangi Koopu.
Raiders (from): Michael Dobson, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Joe Picker, Dane Tilse, David Milne, Ben Jones.
