Rugby league: Stephen Kearney 'super excited' by challenge posed by Warriors run home in NRL season

The Warriors don't need to look far to find the motivation to lift against the Manly Sea Eagles.

After a 46-12 hammering at the hands of the Canberra Raiders last time out, the Warriors are playing do or die football – with four of the top five teams in the competition among those left on their schedule.

Of the teams fighting for a spot in the playoffs, the Warriors have by far the toughest run home. It's a challenge for sure, but one that has coach Stephen Kearney "super excited" about.

"That's as good a challenge as you're going to get … coming up against the best footy teams in the competition, and that's the way we'll treat it," he said of the side's run home.

The motivation that comes with trying to match it with the competition's upper echelon only adds to an already burning desire to make amends for how the team performed against Canberra.

The Warriors conceded eight tries against the Raiders, with five coming in the first half, while missing 58 tackles and a further 31 tackle attempts being ineffective in ending the play.

An excited Stephen Kearney. Photo / Getty

It wasn't a performance the side was proud of, however Kearney said it did highlight one of the beauties of the competition.

"It gives you an opportunity each week to [bounce back] and obviously after last weekend's performance we've had a positive week of preparation, a good captain's run and it's about taking that out onto the field now.

"I think after last weekend the challenge is a personal one for us as a team, that's what we're focusing on."

Manly pose a tough test for the Warriors, claiming a 46-12 win over the New Zealand side in the reverse fixture as fullback Tom Trbojevic and Martin Taupau led the Sea Eagles' charge. In that game, the young fullback broke the line at will, bagged two tries and assisted on two more.

When asked how the team will stop Trbojevic, Kearney said: "Good question."

"He's a wonderful player; he gets some great momentum off some pretty handy forwards, a couple of good dummy halves and a pretty good halfback," he added.

"They're playing great footy at the moment as a team and Tom is the recipient of some wonderful momentum that the team are playing with. It will be a challenge for us but one we're looking forward to."