NRL: 'I didn't like what I saw' - Warriors coach Nathan Brown plays down fightback

Warriors coach Nathan Brown played down his side's fightback against South Sydney, saying the first-half disaster would dominate his thinking.

After a shocker against Cronulla in the previous round, the Warriors were slow out of the blocks in Brisbane, falling behind 26-0 against a Cody Walker-inspired Rabbitohs before scoring a late first-half try.

Helped by the sin-binning of Damien Cook, the Warriors mounted an unlikely second-half fightback which saw Souths having to cling on in the final minutes, prevailing 32-30.

With the record hiding against the Melbourne Storm also fairly fresh in the memory, it was hardly surprising that Brown was in a sombre mood.

"You can look at it two ways - we can look at the comeback, and we dropped it over the line a couple of times in the second half," he said.

"As a coach we've got to focus on what happened in the first half. That's certainly not where you want to be as a football club, as a team which doesn't start the game well and ends up a fair way behind on the scoreboard, has a great fightback and gets beat.

Warriors captain Tohu Harris returned to action against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Photo / Getty

"I would be disappointed if that's what we become. We started poor - that's what we need to be worried about.

"In the last month, I don't really like what I've seen. The first six or seven weeks showed we had made really good progress on last year."

The result left the Warriors just outside the top eight and level with the Dragons, who they play on Saturday.

Brown said the injection of captain Tohu Harris - returning after a long injury break - made a difference. Middle forward Harris, who played a low 30 minutes, said the physical demand had been a shock, particularly because of the defensive workload.

Brown had special praise for "outstanding" Matt Lodge and the prop's form over the past month. He also believed Jazz Tevaga had the best game since Brown had been at the club.

Fullback Reece Walsh was also "head and shoulders" above where he was a year ago, Brown said, because he was working a lot harder, although the team was failing to put him into enough good positions.

Walsh was still a "baby" and would take another three or four seasons to peak, Brown said, but he deflected any questions about State of Origin, saying Queensland coach Billy Slater would have a much better idea if Walsh was ready and good enough.