NRL: Lack of experience hurting Warriors

Simon Mannering of the Warriors looks on during the round 14 NRL match between the New Zealand Warriors and the Sydney Roosters. Photo / Getty Images.

Inexperience is hurting the Warriors but coach Andrew McFadden believes his side is heading in the right direction, despite Saturday's heart-breaking last-minute 25-21 defeat to the Sydney Roosters.

After scraping home in three consecutive wins over sides ranked in the lower half of the NRL ladder, the Warriors have fallen short in their last two game against genuine premiership contenders, with both the Rabbitohs and Roosters exposing some glaring deficiencies in their play.

The Warriors dominated the opening 40 minutes and extended their lead to 20-6 in the early stages of the second-half, but, in what has been a trend this season, they failed to land the knock-out blow and lost their way badly in the final half hour as the Roosters roared to life.

McFadden was pleased with the effort but conceded his youthful side - featuring six players with no more than 12 NRL games to their names while missing State of Origin representatives Ryan Hoffman and Jacob Lillyman - were found wanting at key stages.

"Some of it comes down to a bit of inexperience in certain positions so that's something we'll have to work on," said McFadden.

"There was a lot more to like about tonight than there was last week. It was completely chalk and cheese, so we'll get a lot of learning out of that when we look at the tape but we're certainly on the right track.

"They probably had more experience than us out there so it is a learning curve for us at the moment and we're learning the hard way but I've still got a lot of faith in this group."

Replacement fullback Jonathan Wright's needless ingoal fumble a minute from fulltime gifted the Roosters a final attacking chance, from which Blake Ferguson crossed to secure victory, but the writing was on the wall for the home side throughout a listless last quarter.

Halfback Shaun Johnson - so often criticised for his lack of game management - found touch deep inside the opposition half on three occasions, content to defend their lead, when sustained attacking pressure was needed.

The Roosters - led by barnstorming former Warriors back-rower Sio Siua Taukeiaho and captain Jake Friend - had no trouble powering their way back downfield and the Warriors were unable to halt their momentum.

"We can't really hang Jono [Wright] out to dry. He's been pretty solid for us all year and we're just going to have to absorb this one as a team," said McFadden.

"It was a difficult night to shut the door with the conditions and every team that got the run of momentum started to put on points.

"They played a near perfect half of football in the second-half, [we] didn't have a lot of possession, had probably a couple of rough calls go against us at the end but we're just finding it that little bit hard at the moment."

The result will likely see the Warriors slide down the ladder by the end of the round and things don't get any easier with a difficult away clash awaiting them on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

Uncertainty surrounds the playing return of Sam Tomkins, as he continues to overcome the knee injury which forced him out of the side before kick-off, while Nathan Friend [concussion] and Sam Lisone [back] are also in doubt for the Titans' clash.