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Warriors forward Adam Blair admits the team have a problem dealing with adversity in games – and belief dips when things go against them.
Speaking after the side's 32-10 loss to Melbourne on Saturday night, the 33-year-old veteran said the team is currently "not tough enough as a group" to stay in the contest when momentum turns late in matches.
It's a staggering admission, especially from a senior player, but is also refreshingly honest.
And it's the only way to explain the bizarre sequence on Saturday night, where one of the Warriors' best opening 30 minutes of the season was followed by an ugly collapse, as the Storm scored 30 unanswered points.
The worst aspect of the reversal was just after halftime; Melbourne scored from their opening set after the kickoff, which seemed to drain all the fight out of the Warriors.
Saturday's defeat was their fourth on the trot at home, and continued a pattern of fading after halftime.
Adam Blair takes a hit up against the Melbourne Storm. Photo / Photosport
"You start the second half and something doesn't go your way, and it's kinda like we think it is too tough," said Blair. "We forget about all the hard work that we have done in the first half and we don't go back to doing the same thing we were.
"It seems like when we get on the back foot it's too hard for us to get back in it, or we are thinking that someone else will do the job for us. When you go back over the performances [at home] we do struggle in the back half of games; sometimes it's because things don't go our way and we are not tough enough as a group to find our way of it."
The Warriors led 10-2 after 19 minutes, thanks to well-constructed tries to Ken Maumalo and Kodi Nikorima.
Momentum began to turn soon after that, helped by a succession of penalties to the visitors, but the Warriors were staying in the fight, though Jahrome Hughes' try four minutes before halftime was critical.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy conceded it gave his side a boost, after they had struggled for much of the first spell, and it also seemed to deflate the Warriors.
"We didn't start well in the second half," said Blair. "You go into halftime thinking about what you are going to do in the second half, your attitude and what you are going to put out there and we didn't do what we said we were going to do. Felt like we were on the back foot for the rest of the half."
Blair conceded the Warriors' belief seemed to go south early in the second half, and they never recovered.
"It shouldn't drop because what we did in the first half, and what we have done in most games in the first half we have been in the game and really competitive."
"It shouldn't drop but I think at times…not the whole group, but there might be subconsciously in some people's heads, the games getting too tough and we are looking for other people to do a better job or other people to do a job that we should all be doing."
Blair is in line to celebrate his 300th NRL match on Friday against the Titans, but admits that impending milestone has been a distraction in 2019.
"Hopefully everything goes well after this game and I am in the team," said Blair. "It was half my problem this year, most probably trying to protect that. Getting caught up in that, not playing the game in front of me and thinking what's ahead and the big picture."
