NRL: Cleary wants better kicking game

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary expects his side to improve their kicking game for better field position. Photo / Getty Image

Coach Ivan Cleary wants better end product from the New Zealand Warriors' kicking game against National Rugby League high-fliers Melbourne tomorrow night.

The Anzac Day clash is the second successive trip across the Tasman for the Warriors, who are backing up from their 20-10 defeat to Manly, a result that kept them in the bottom half of the table.

Cleary said the loss at Brookvale Oval was indicative of his side's general inability this season to build sufficient pressure.

In the end, the amount of possession and field position the Sea Eagles had proved too much.

One remedy to turning that around was getting better results from their kicks, Cleary said.

"We haven't had it all year really," he said.

"That's the foundation of the way you play. If you're consistently down on possession and position, then it's really hard."

The Warriors are particularly mindful of the need for a pinpoint kicking game and a good chase against Melbourne to shut down the damaging broken-play running of Billy Slater.

The fullback is one of the Storm's major strike weapons, along with the likes of hooker Cameron Smith and halfback Cooper Cronk.

"It's a pretty good treble and they've been playing very well," Cleary said.

"Obviously they're the strengths of their team and how we handle them will probably go a fair way to determining the result."

Cleary said he had always thought the best way to counter dangerous opponents was to limit their opportunities by simply playing well.

"They're great players and they're going to be doing some good things," he said.

"But if you're giving them the ball, good field position and that type of thing, then it makes your life a lot harder."

Cleary has recalled halfback Brett Seymour, a casualty of the Warriors' 0-3 start to the season.

Seymour has spend the past three weeks with the Auckland Vulcans in the New South Wales Cup.

His reinstatement means James Maloney goes to five-eighth in place of Feleti Mateo, whose offloading ability will be used as a backrower.

The rejig means the trio return to the positions they occupied at the beginning of the season.

Mateo's move to the pack comes as skipper Simon Mannering and Lewis Brown continue their shift from the second row to the centres to plug the loss of the Jerome Ropati, Shaun Berrigan and Joel Moon to injury.

While the Warriors won't be expecting any favours from the home crowd, the atmosphere is unlikely to be as red-hot as at the corresponding fixture exactly a year ago.

The match came in the week that Melbourne's salary cap scandal blew up and the Storm responded to the stripping of two premierships and all their points for 2010 by smashing the Warriors 40-6.

"It was one of those days," Cleary said.

"I think I used the quote that we were the pinata at the party last time, so hopefully it's not so much of a party this time.

"It's a new year and a new event. They're obviously going well and they're always a really good challenge down there."

- NZPA