Richie Barnett: Time running out for turnaround

Ivan Cleary. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

It will probably take six wins from their last nine games to get the Warriors into the finals.

After four straight losses, time is running out for the club to turn things around. The next four weeks are critical. Teams like to break things down into four-match blocks and, if you look at the next four matches - the Titans, Bulldogs and Raiders at home and the Rabbitohs away - you'd say the Warriors will be targeting winning at least three of them.

Breaking it down even further, if they can't beat the Titans tonight they have no chance of making the top eight.

If they don't, I hope people don't blame the Ivan Cleary situation. That's an easy excuse, a get-out-of-jail-free card waiting to be played.

Sam Rapira and Micheal Luck are coming back at the right time. Rapira in particular will help out the go-forward massively and he and Luck have a good work-rate on defence.

The thing you notice about this Warriors side is how strong the bench is. Having Lance Hohaia, Rapira, Ben Matulino and Elijah Taylor should mean players can work harder and be turned over quicker. With Luck back, the back row trio can grind things out and Taylor can come on as a ball-playing option.

The Warriors created plenty of opportunities against the Storm but struggled to convert them into points. Having Lewis Brown and Shaun Berrigan in the centres helps defence but it does create an issue with finishing off tries. Converting chances is usually the difference between winning and losing, so it's good to see Kevin Locke back in the side. His pace makes the Warriors a much more dangerous outfit.

The same can be said of Shaun Johnson. We're often too critical of young players; we expect them to perform like experienced players straight away. That's hardly fair or realistic. Johnson is a tremendous young talent. He will have learned a huge amount from his first three games and watched Brett Seymour closely last week to see how he directed play and injected himself when required.

In previous years we've seen the Warriors find a new gear over the second half of the season. They've gone on some strong runs that have taken them into the finals. If that is going to happen again, it has to start tonight.