The coach also hinted there may have been some complacency in the ranks, and the dominant nature of round one victory, on an emotional afternoon in front of a large Mt Smart crowd.
"It was a big week for the footy club last week for a number of reasons," said Kearney.
"The lesson for this footy club is you have to turn up every week, regardless of the situation.
There were some individuals tonight that were still on the cloud that they finished off with last week…it was a good lesson for them. "
"We were out enthused, out energized, by a team with a real attitude to get a job done. [There were] parts where we tried in the first half. I think some of us thought it was going to be an easier night than what [it was]."
Kearney also lauded the performance of the Tigers, particularly 35-year-old Robbie Farah, who grabbed three try assist and scored one of his own in a brilliant display from dummy half.
"I thought he was fantastic tonight but we made it easy for him," said Kearney. "We gifted them field position."
Kearney was reluctant to single out players, but admitted the right edge defence was a concern, with Solomone Kata and David Fustiu'a caught out on several occasions, which led to Tigers tries.
On a night to forget, the Warriors only completed 22 of 33 sets (67 per cent) while the Sydney team managed 66/40 at a staggering 90 per cent. It meant the visitors had to make almost 100 more tackles than their opposition, which eventually told in the second half.
They also recorded nearly twice as many missed tackles as the Tigers, almost double the amount of errors and twice as many penalties.
It left Kearney a bit shocked after it all, and he gave a predictable answer when asked if he could see any positives at all from the performance.
"Hmmm…..let me get back to you at that one,"said Kearney.