NRL: Wounded Warriors switch their focus to struggling Broncos

The Warriors will meet a struggling Brisbane side this Friday night. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand Warriors hope a week in the Queensland sun can help revive their National Rugby League fortunes as they eye a confidence-sapped and injury-hit Brisbane Broncos.

The Warriors switched focus to the Broncos, who returned home yesterday licking their wounds from a 14-21 loss to Parramatta, their fourth consecutive defeat which saw them slip out of the top eight.

Still, the Warriors are no better in 11th spot, three points outside the top eight, after their error-ridden 12-28 loss to third-placed Gold Coast last Saturday.

With 28 competition points predicted as the top-eight cut, the Warriors somehow need to replicate their late season charge of 2008 and win at least seven of their last 10 matches to reach the playoffs.

After the Broncos, the high-flying Bulldogs loom in Auckland the following weekend.

It's a clogged playoff race, with 13 sides still in contention, including Canberra and the Eels, after their upsets over Melbourne and Brisbane respectively.

Coach Ivan Cleary said his Warriors were happy to be in camp across the Tasman as they seek to end a six-match winless run on Australian soil.

"The position we're in is fairly precarious so it's probably not a bad thing that we can stay together and spend some time, something a little bit different to what we usually do. We'll be looking to make the most of that," he said.

Cleary will name his team today for a rare Friday night match after studying the video from the Gold Coast, where his team created plenty of chances but were sunk by handling errors, poor option taking and two length-of-the-field intercepts.

The Broncos tumbled spectacularly during the past month of State of Origin, with a host of players lost to representative football and injuries to key men.

After winning six of their first seven games, the Broncos have conceded 137 points in their past four defeats while the Warriors are looking to spark their own attack.

- NZPA