Warriors look to returning stars for boost

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Warriors look to returning stars for boost
Topic Started: May 1 2010, 10:12 PM (76 Views)
stacey	May 1 2010, 10:12 PM Post #1
Administrator Posts: 5,737 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: May 22, 2009	By ROBERT LOWE - NZPA The New Zealand Warriors are looking to the return of some experienced troops from injury to bolster flagging confidence as they head into their first bye of the National Rugby League (NRL) season. The Warriors go into the break, which coincides with the trans-Tasman test in Melbourne next Friday night, on a run of three defeats in row after they fell 23-16 last night to a Canberra side with plenty of casualty woes of their own. Skipper Simon Mannering, whose hamstring problem has restricted him to one and bit games this year, is expected to be fit to face North Queensland in a fortnight. Giant winger Manu Vatuvei and first-choice playmaker Brett Seymour are also likely to be available against the Cowboys after nursing respective hamstring and hand injuries."We've got some real important players to come back soon," coach Ivan Cleary said. "That will really boost confidence in the squad, which is lacking at the moment." The news concerning prop Steve Price, who hasn't played this year after undergoing surgery in the summer for a heel problem, was less promising, with the 313-match veteran suffering another setback in his rehabilitation. Centre Brent Tate agreed that confidence in the camp had taken a hit with the club's fall to a 3-5 win-loss record. But Tate also recalled his first season in New Zealand in 2008, when the Warriors pulled themselves out of a big trough to make it to within one match of the grand final. "We just have to stick together and work hard in training," he said. "Sometimes it just takes some of our experienced guys to come back and all of a sudden the guys start to feel good about themselves and there's a bit more belief." After leaking 40 points against both Penrith and Melbourne, the Warriors were favoured to bounced back and do the business against Canberra, who had gone into the weekend third from bottom on the table. The Raiders also had 11 players out, including skipper Alan Tongue, and hadn't won in Auckland since 2001. But the Warriors' twin foibles of a slow start and errors, as well as the visitors' excellent ball security in wet conditions, made it look for most of the contest like there would be only one winner. Despite some heavy rain, Canberra completed an outstanding 94 percent of their sets and their big forwards, in particular prop David Shillington with more than 200 metres, set a solid platform. "We hadn't put 80 minutes together this year and I thought we were close to that," stand-in skipper Terry Campese said. "When we hold that much ball, we can steam through teams with our big forward pack." The Warriors made a horror start, gifting the Raiders the opening try after 11 minutes. Fullback Lance Hohaia, near his goal line, threw a pass that went to ground and Auckland-born Canberra debutant Drury Low swooped to gather and stroll over. Shillington then crashed over before winger Low got his second to help the Raiders to a 16-0 halftime lead - the fourth time in five matches that the Warriors had been kept scoreless in the opening spell. Seeking to avoid their third successive home defeat, the Warriors did fight back with tries to interchange forward Ukuma Ta'ai and winger Patrick Ah Van, the latter producing a great diving effort to rein in a cross-kick from halfback James Maloney. However, Canberra regained the initiative after Kiwis second rower Bronson Harrison produced a one-handed offload that sent centre Joel Thompson over. Halfback Marc Herbert landed a field goal to increase the buffer to 13 points, before Tate grabbed a late consolation try.
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