KEY POINTS:
There is no panic in the Warriors camp after three losses from games they know they could have won.
Instead there is acknowledgment they have not played as well as they might and a desire to prove they are a better team.
The return of Steve Price from the State of Origin will add steadiness, discipline and his trademark ground-gain when the Warriors play their first Monday night game this season away to Parramatta.
It is a ground where they find it difficult to win. They have won only one from eight games there and that was in their first match in 1995.
Coach Ivan Cleary admitted yesterday that lack of ball control and a heavy penalty count against them meant they had struggled to mount attacking pressure and that the attack had been blunted because they were giving the opposition a leg-up by giving them the ball, then doing too much tackling.
In the past three losses, to the Sharks, Knights and Tigers the Warriors have made 1078 tackles to their opponents' 866.
Cleary said they had spoken about discipline in not giving away penalties, about ball control, about keeping their concentration and composure at times when everyone was fatigued.
He found plenty to be positive about after analysing the loss to the Tigers last weekend, more so than after the previous two games. They had scored five tries. "Every time we had the ball we looked dangerous. The last few weeks we've been guilty of relieving the pressure."
Some of the penalties awarded against them were 50/50 calls and some could have been avoided. They lost that count 10-5 last weekend, Cleary admitting there was a degree of naivety in the run to the melee which was quickly followed by the sin-binning of Louis Anderson. They had got offside with the referee, which was not smart.
Focus had been on maintaining self-belief. "There's a lot of doubt from the outside so it's important we get our house in order."
They would benefit greatly from the leadership of Price. Wairangi Koopu, named on a five-man bench, would definitely play, Cleary said. He would decide who dropped off later. Epalahame Lauaki seems most likely.
Vice-captain Ruben Wiki said morale within the squad was good. They knew they had played poorly but were buoyed by the fact they were in all three games until the final whistle.
Hard drills yesterday aimed at training them mentally to push through the tough times.
Price, who was allowed out early after what Cleary labelled a man-of-the-match performance for Queensland, offered some advice from the sideline during opposed training. "Never mind the ref, keep your mind on what's going on on the field," he yelled to another Warrior who disputed a call.
The Eels have been boosted by the mid-week retention of five players including halfback Tim Smith and secondrower Feleti Mateo who is a rapidly rising star. Mateo was reportedly offered a big deal by Manly but has signed for three years at A$240,000 ($271,000) per season. Also retained are young prop Josh Cordoba and premier league hooker Matt Keating, plus veteran Daniel Wagon who extended his stay for another year.
* North Queensland utility Rod Jensen has been released immediately so he can sign for Huddersfield in Super League.
* Broncos secondrower Brad Thorn cracks 200 NRL games against the Knights this weekend.
