KEY POINTS:
The theme for the Warriors' approach to their knockout finals game at Mt Smart tomorrow night was repeatedly spelled out at the club's awards dinner - they are not taking the Roosters lightly and they won't take the field thinking home advantage will win it.
Speaker after speaker,
from the players who won awards to the coach to the director of football, John Hart, mentioned the resolve within the side, the self-belief and the fact they had just one chance and were not about to blow it through over-confidence. Hart told the crowd he believed this game was their toughest task of the season.
Though no one will publicly admit that over-confidence was the failing when they lost at home to South Sydney, everyone knows it.
Tomorrow they expect a finals-toughened Roosters side to play their hearts out, especially early in the game. The Warriors, however, intend to match their intensity and swear they will not coast at any stage nor expect the crowd to lift them.
"I don't really have to say anything [to motivate the side]," said captain Steve Price. "The attitude we take in can't change [after beating Melbourne]. We've got to where we are because of great preparation. We've made sure this preparation is spot on."
The Roosters may benefit from a longer break, having played last Friday while the Warriors played on Sunday. "I'll tell you on Saturday morning," Price said when asked if that would dent their impact. "We've just got to deal with it.
"Everyone has been smart dealing with their bumps and bruises and icing the injuries they've got. Everyone's been really strong on that."
There were no injury concerns.
The Roosters have worries over Kiwi centre Setaimata Sa who is carrying a badly bruised hip and remains in doubt. They have 20 players here; wing Amos Roberts arrived yesterday after his wife Zoe gave birth, and he expects to oust Brent Grose from the side named on Tuesday. Former Warriors forward Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Kiwi winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall and teenage hooker/halfback Rory Kostjaysn are also training.
"Our top 17 is going to be our best 17, which will have a lot to do with health," Roosters coach Brad Fittler said. "We'll make our mind up towards the end of the week. They all got out there training today but there were still a few blokes who were injured from the weekend. They did what they could do."
Storm rages across the Tasman about Melbourne's use of grapple tactics to slow the play-the-ball following the Warriors' great win over the title-holders.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has accused Price of forcing the penalty count last Sunday to an unusually high 21, almost double the NRL average.
Fittler agreed that was a good game strategy but not one that would work against his team.
"They obviously went in there with a mentality of wearing down the ref towards the Melbourne tactics and they did a good job," Fittler said. "I don't think we have the same tactics as them [the Storm]. We haven't coached that well enough, or effectively enough, for that to worry the Warriors."
Bellamy said in any game Price never shuts up and is "always whinging about something".
"Against us, it's probably the grapple and I imagine he does that against a couple of other teams that are high up in that list - that's part of Steve's game."