NRL: Confidence gained but Warriors not getting carried away

Manu Vatuvei and Ryan Hoffman celebrate the captain's try during the Warriors' win. Photo / Getty

The Warriors are not getting carried away following Saturday's morale-boosting 36-18 NRL win over Brisbane and know their greatest challenge remains in finding consistency in the weeks ahead.

Coach Andrew McFadden is reluctant to declare it a turning point in their season but believes his players will take some much-needed confidence out of the seven tries-to-three win.

After a difficult past month that saw them win just one of four matches playing a dour style, the Warriors produced a thrilling brand of football against the Broncos, based on strong go-forward and a willingness to chance their arm on attack.

"We're not going to get ahead of ourselves, of course, its one game," said McFadden. "It was clear from the outset that our players wanted to play a certain style of footy.

"We had a fair bounce of the ball but we played with lots of energy and I'm a big believer that you make your own luck if you really commit to things.

"The challenge will be to get that balance right every week."

The Warriors forwards turned in their strongest showing of the season and senior players Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke were both at their running best, while veteran wing Manu Vatuvei added real thrust with some trademark charges early in the tackle count.

Their confidence was shared by the younger players, with front-rowers Sam Lisone and Albert Vete bringing aggression, and outside backs Solomone Kata, David Fusitu'a and Tui Lolohea providing spark and finishing class.

McFadden was pleased with his side's improved creativity and execution but said it all started with some committed work in the middle of the park.

"They both come hand in hand," he said. "No doubt you've got to win the middle third or at least have an even share there and our forwards did a really good job.

"They did what they had to do and then obviously our spine was probably more positive than they've been."

The 11th ranked Warriors are now bunched together with five teams on 12 points, level with the eighth-placed Rabbitohs.

They now look ahead to consecutive games against sides beneath them on the NRL ladder, Newcastle and Wests Tigers, and their run home includes just four games against current top eight teams.

However, in recent years the Warriors have often looked like playoff contenders through June and July before falling off the pace late in the season. Question marks will hang over their finals hopes until they prove their worth in games following the completion of the State of Origin series.

"It doesn't matter how well we go over the next month we'll have to live with (hearing) that we always do this during the Origin period," said McFadden.

"We'll have to live with that history until we have these performances on a frequent basis."
He hopes the win over last year's grand finalists provides the players with the necessary belief to further build and improve their game.

"What we've worked out is the type of football that we can play and we know it's there. And that was really important because we really haven't seen a lot of that this year.

"We've had patches of it but not over an 80 minute period so it was important for the belief of the players. Now it's just a matter of staying focused."