NRL: Welcome (back) to the last-chance saloon

If the Warriors lose tomorrow at home to a severely weakened Bulldogs side and it really will be time to call in the mortician. Photo / Getty Images

The Warriors may not be dead yet, but the Grim Reaper is definitely hovering over their rapidly expiring season.

Lose tomorrow at home to a severely weakened Bulldogs side and it really will be time to call in the mortician.

With the club languishing in 12th place with just nine wins from 15 matches to their name, some would argue the last rites should already have been administered. Stand-in captain Micheal Luck, however, believes a post mortem is premature.

"There are a million reasons," he began when asked what had gone wrong in a season that started with so much promise. Quickly, though, he changed tack. "It is not done and dusted yet. We are not sitting in a pub watching the semifinals yet.

"We have still got a chance to be in them. And while there is a chance, I'll play as best as I can every week to make sure we'll be there. I'm not looking back at anything yet, we have still got plenty to go."

Fighting talk and, given last season's remarkable charge into the eighth and final playoff spot from an almost identical position, who can blame him?

After 17 rounds last season the club was also in 12th but with one additional point. They won seven of their last nine matches to save their season. This year, however, even that might not be enough.

Last year, 30 points booked the Warriors a trip to Melbourne, but it's likely they'll have to go at least one or two better this season. Nine clubs have already reached or surpassed the 20-point mark - two more than last year. It is also doubtful the Warriors can count on clubs already in the eight melting down the way Gold Coast and Penrith did last year.

The final factor pointing towards tomorrow's match being a must-win is the draw. The Warriors' run-in includes matches against the Dragons (first), Gold Coast (third), the Bulldogs (second) and Melbourne (fourth). And a team that has won just once on Australia soil this season also has four more trips across the Ditch to come.

Mathematically, they might be able to afford one more slip-up, but it certainly can't come tomorrow against a Bulldogs side without Brett Kimmorley, Michael Ennis, Josh Morris (State of Origin duty), Ben Hannant, Jamal Idris (injured), Greg Eastwood and Bryson Goodwin (suspended).

"To be any sort of force we can't drop any from here on in," Luck said.

"There are still nine games to go but this time last year we were probably in a similar situation. We can't just rest on that and say 'we are going to come good because we did last year'. But you can take confidence out of it, take lessons in how we did things last time and maybe we can do it again."

Not having conceded a point in their past two home matches - 14-0 and 13-0 slogs over the Tigers and Knights - should also boost the confidence of a side that blundered to a defeat against Brisbane last week, despite utterly dominating the first half.

The Warriors' attack has been anaemic this year, with Denan Kemp's fumble with the line begging symptomatic of a wider malaise.

"I just think a lot of it is confidence," coach Ivan Cleary said.

"When you are playing well and you are scoring tries you don't really have to think about it. But when everyone keeps saying 'you can't score tries, you can't score points', then everyone sort of tightens up.

"Last week, we botched two try-scoring chances that I reckon on any other given day we'd score. That would have given us good leads and that can change a whole game. It is frustrating and disappointing our attack hasn't been able to come up with points but I still feel like we are creating opportunities. We have just got to keep working hard and hopefully we will nail a couple of those."

Cleary becomes the club's longest-serving coach at kickoff, eclipsing Daniel Anderson's mark of 92 matches.

"It's not really in the front of my mind but I guess when I think about it I am proud to do that. But I just want to win this week," he said.

"I've been pretty disappointed with the results the last couple of weeks. Not just because of the result, but because I've actually felt we've played some good football at times. We just haven't been able to nail things and that's been a shame.

"But I feel we are ready to play well and it is important we do that. As for the rest of the year, we won't achieve our goals unless we get some momentum.

"And the only way to achieve that is by playing well and coming up with the result."

The match is also likely to be the last time Hazim el Masri, the game's all-time leading points scorer, laces up his boots in New Zealand.

The Warriors are rumoured to be organising a tribute to the Lebanese-born points machine, although Luck and his teammates will certainly be out to ruin his day.

"Between here and the end [of the season] a lot of good things will get said and written about Hazim and he deserves every single one of them," Luck said.

"At a time when our game has been battered around a bit by blokes not doing the right thing off the field, you can never say a bad word about Hazim. Hopefully, he goes out a winner, just not [tomorrow]."