NRL: High noon for rookie against the Cowboys

Warriors playmaker Tui Lolohea faces a huge test lining up against Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston. Photo / Getty Images

Lolohea bracing himself for another night of bumps and bruises.

Rookie Warriors playmaker Tuimoala Lolohea is expecting to get up close and personal with the North Queensland Cowboys' forwards and knows he needs to step up defensively in tomorrow night's clash at Mt Smart Stadium.

The 20-year-old endured a torrid night in last Saturday's defeat to the Penrith Panthers, with the home side targeting him with a relentless stream of ball-carriers running down his right edge.

Lolohea admits this season has been a steep learning curve as injuries to key players saw him shuffled between fullback, wing and centre, and he believes defence has been the hardest part since Shaun Johnson's season-ending injury saw him thrust into the halfback role three weeks ago.

"Being all over the show this year [has been the most difficult]," said Lolohea. "The biggest one [challenge] for me would just be my defence, especially with slotting into the halves now.

"We had a lot of traffic down our edge and they [Penrith] made a lot of little breaks. My defence was off on the weekend but I can't dwell on that too much. I've just got to get my body in front of the carrier and make my play."

He faces a huge test lining up against Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston, and is bracing himself for another night of bumps and bruises, in trying to contain the likes of Cowboys and Kangaroos test props Matt Scott and James Tamou, and destructive Kiwis back-rower Jason Taumalolo.

"It's going to be a real tough challenge," he said. "We know what kind of player he [Thurston] is and they're going to be coming at me a lot this week. I know, especially after last weekend, they'll be watching the footage, so I'm going to have to have a lot of communication skills and make my tackles.

"That's in the back of my mind [being targeted]. I'm just going to have to deal with it and put my body in front of them and make some good decisions."

The Tongan international is more comfortable with how his attacking game is progressing but is putting pressure on himself to increase his involvement with the ball in hand.

Five-eighth Chad Townsend has been the dominant half in directing the team around the park and taking on the bulk of the kicking duties, but Lolohea says he can contribute more in that area as well.

"Definitely. I know that a big part of my game is running the ball and I haven't been accountable in doing that. I've had a sit down and thought to myself that I definitely need to do more running of the ball and taking the line on. It's slowly starting to develop. It's not an easy position to slot into at this level. I'm just being patient and I'm sure an opportunity [to attack] will come my way in the next three weeks.

"I've had the odd kick here and there but it's something I've been practising a lot and I know that I'll have to do a lot of it throughout the offseason for next year."

Shouting directions at his older, more experienced forwards has not been too difficult, as he realises the importance of being clear in his messages. "They admire us swearing at them and just talking and yelling at them. That's something that they like to get energy off and they like to see the young fellas doing that. They've told us to keep going with it because it gives them energy."