NRL: Cleary keen to get back on track

Warriors player Lewis Brown in action against the Rabbitohs last week. Photo / Dean Purcell

It's the equivalent of day three at the Masters for the Warriors tomorrow - moving day. If they beat the Gold Coast Titans at Mt Smart Stadium and other results go their way they could end the round as high as third. Lose, and they could plummet as low as 10th.

Locked with the Warriors on 24 points but with a slightly inferior points differential, the Titans face the same scenario.

Extreme stakes indeed, but coach Ivan Cleary said his side proving it could bounce back from a sub-par effort against the Rabbitohs was just as important as the ramifications for the competition ladder.

"It is pretty important that we get it back quickly," Cleary said.

With their five match winning streak snapped by a Rabbitohs side that exposed some frail defence on the flanks, the Warriors were looking to get back to the blueprint that brought them success against the likes of Penrith and Melbourne, backrower Micheal Luck said.

"We did a lot of good stuff [against the Rabbitohs] but you shouldn't score 28 points and lose a game," Luck said.

"We weren't up to the standard that we set in defence and there were some easy dropped balls and cheap turnovers as well."

Backrower Lewis Brown's presence in the centres in place of the injured Jerome Ropati should help shore up that flaky outside defence, while youngster Bill Tupou - in for Kevin Locke - is also a capable defender.

The Titans are also far from full strength, with Matt Rogers pressed into action as a makeshift five-eighth in place of Greg Bird, and backup options Clinton Toopi and Steve Michaels slotting into the centres.

With fullback Preston Campbell capable of moving into the halves and William Zillman at home at fullback, the Titans possess the ability to change things on the fly. The gutsy 11-10 golden point victory they posted over the competition-leading Dragons last week showed the Titans are also capable of grinding out tough away victories.

"We've got a lot of respect for them," Luck said. "I like watching them play. They've got two pretty smart halves, a good forward pack and their hooker [Nathan Friend] is one of the better playmakers in the game. It's another big test for us."

The Rabbitohs' defeat was by no means calamitous for the Warriors but the lack of defensive intensity that led to it was a concern. Luck hopes the defeat will serve as a spur over the coming weeks as the side chases the three victories needed to guarantee a playoff spot.

"It's no good getting beaten and then coming out and backing it up with a similar performance [tomorrow]. We've got to learn from it and get back to what works for us."

Cleary had mixed feelings about whether the end of a win streak that had been closing on the club's all-time mark of eight might prove to be a good thing. "Maybe. It is really hard to keep a run going. You can see that from the figures of how few streaks there are in the NRL of any sort of length. There are a few reasons for that but one, I suppose, if you watched the game [against Souths], when it counted the Rabbitohs were a bit more desperate.

"That happens, especially at this time of year. It's not like we didn't want to win. But we were probably just a cog down from what they were and that is often enough to determine who wins and who loses."

WARRIORS V TITANS
Mt Smart Stadium, 2pm tomorrow

WARRIORS
Lance Hohaia
Bill Tupou
Brent Tate
Lewis Brown
Manu Vatuvei
James Maloney
Brett Seymour
Ben Matulino
Aaron Heremaia
Russell Packer
S. Mannering (c)
Ukuma Ta'ai
Micheal Luck
Interchange (from): Ian Henderson, Jesse Royal, Jeremy Latimore, Jacob Lillyman, Joel Moon.

TITANS
Preston Campbell
Kevin Gordon
Steve Michaels
Clinton Toopi
William Zillman
Mat Rogers
Scott Prince
Luke Bailey
Nathan Friend
M. Henderson
A. Laffranchi
Mark Minichiello
B. Thompson
Interchange: Matthew White, Brad Meyers, Ben Ridge, Shannon Walker, Luke O'Dwyer.