NRL: Facing up to another slow start

Warriors skipper Steve Price admits 'we probably haven't played good footy all year'. Photo / Getty Images

It was the great baseballer and king of malapropism Yogi Berra who said, "it's like deja vu all over again".

It might be nearly 50 years since he uttered those famous words but he could have been talking about the modern day Warriors.

For the third year in a row, the Warriors have started poorly and their record after nine games is freakishly similar to 2007 and '08.

In those years, they had four wins and five losses in their first nine games. This year, that record is slightly inferior, with three wins, five losses and a draw.

"It's not on purpose," Warriors skipper Steve Price contends. "It's a bit scary that it's happening again. We didn't want to put ourselves in that position."

The harsh reality is that if a handful of wins aren't forthcoming soon, they are in danger of having to replicate the compelling form that propelled them to the playoffs in 2007 and '08.

It's a dangerous place to be because there are no guarantees they can do it again.

One major factor working in their favour is that, heading into this weekend's round 11, they were only three points outside the top eight and only five points behind surprise leaders the Bulldogs.

One win in seven matches, though, is cause for concern and their position is slightly inflated by already having had the bye.

"We just have to be tougher on ourselves in training and games," Price says. "We probably haven't played good footy all year. The wins we have had have been against teams who have struggled all year and there were games we should have won against teams that have been going well.

"We have been through plenty of tough times and every team does. But it gets to a point where desperation starts to rise. It should be like that at the start of the year."

The Warriors under Ivan Cleary aren't prone to panicking, though. It's not their style. They also draw confidence from how they turned things around over the past two years and the fact they are still in touch.

Cleary, like a lot of modern-day coaches, likes to play a structured game, where pressure is built at the right end of the field on the back of a high completion rate and a good kicking game.

Halfback Stacey Jones says this is their biggest problem.

"We are losing games because we are not holding the ball," he says simply. "We're not completing our sets properly. If you look at the teams winning, they are at around 85 per cent. We've not been good enough.

"It's basic football. The competition is that tough and tight it comes down to what teams does the basics right - the team that runs the ball hardest, the team that has better contact in defence and the team that gets a better kick away at the end."

The Warriors' completion rate of 72.9 per cent is not the competition's lowest - the Dragons are best at 79.2 per cent and the Sharks worst at 66.4 per cent - but five times this year, their completion rate has dipped below 70 per cent.

Against the Dragons, for instance, they completed just 63.4 per cent of their 41 sets. That's unacceptable and proved the difference in an agonising 12-11 defeat.

It's a commonly-held belief that the Warriors are one of the best attacking teams in the NRL. Offloads from anywhere, apparently. Razzle-dazzle. Not exactly. They have posted only 154 points this season - the fourth-worst in the competition - at an average of 17.11 points a game.

Interestingly, though, they rank second on most metres a game (1333.2m), first on tackle breaks (36.8) and third on offloads (13.9).

The problem is they aren't dominating for long periods, like the Cowboys did last weekend in their 34-12 win. It's a trend in this year's NRL under the two-referee system but one of which the Warriors haven't been able to take advantage.

Errors kill momentum and force them to make more tackles than they would like. They average 320.1 tackles a game and only twice has that been in the 200s (they made an astonishing 400 in the extra-time draw with Melbourne).

They have also struggled to put together an acceptable record at home. Two wins from five games is anything but a fortress.

"The forwards are gaining enough metres," former Kiwis captain Duane Mann says, "but they are just lacking two or three really quality players who can provide the spark.

"Lance [Hohaia] was injured and Wade [McKinnon] hasn't got back into his groove [of 2007] and they are two who can provide it.

"They need to get a win first and foremost and then they need to win chunks of games. For now, it's just getting that first win.

"When you go through a losing streak, you can start to over-analyse things and that might be happening at the club at the moment."

In 2007, the Warriors arrested an alarming six-game losing streak. They blitzed the last 10 weeks of the competition, finishing fourth but losing in the first two weeks of the playoffs.

Last year, they won eight of their last 10 to sneak into eighth before upsetting Melbourne in the first round of the playoffs and being stopped by eventual champions Manly one game short of the grand final.

Some might say they did that thanks to the lucky beards that turned their season around.

"I would be really worried if that's what it takes," Price says. "I really would. We shaved our heads in the weekend [to support Jesse Royal and his son's battle with cancer] and got beaten by 30.

"I wasn't a fan of the beards. I really hated it. I like to shave on game day. It's the same with the shaving heads, there would be guys who don't like doing that. But you do it for the team. It shows your commitment to the group."

Something needs to change, though, and quickly if the Warriors are going to be contenders. That starts against Canberra today.

But as Berra also famously said, "it aint over 'til it's over" and it's far from over.

THE NUMBERS

History repeats

2009 - P9 W3 L5 D1

2008 - P9 W4 L5

2007 - P9 W4 L5

2009 Warriors' results so far

beat Eels 26-18

beat Sea Eagles 26-24

lost to Broncos 26-10

lost to Rabbitohs 22-16

lost to Knights 24-22

beat Roosters 17-16

drew with Storm 14-14

lost to Dragons 12-11

lost to Cowboys 34-12