Following a disappointing 34-26 loss to the Tigers in Round 1, Warriors coach Andrew McFadden is demanding more aggression from his men on Friday night against the Broncos.
After heading into half-time trailing 22-4 the Warriors staged a big second-half comeback in what McFadden labelled as a 'passive' performance at Campbelltown Stadium.
The catalyst for the turnaround was a half-time talk about the mindset of the team, and speaking mid-week McFadden was confident the issue had been addressed ahead of the meeting with last year's beaten grand finalists.
"Obviously starts are important, we didn’t come out as aggressive as we would have liked and we paid for that," McFadden said.
"We just felt like we were waiting for it to happen, and when you are in that mindset it generally doesn’t.
"We talked [at half-time] about being more aggressive with the way we play and having commitment to our plan, and that's what we got in the second half.
"I think if you asked all the losing teams from the weekend where they sat in the physical battle they would probably say they lost it.
"It's not going to be the first time it happens this year, or the last, that a team is going to win the ruck, and when they win the ruck it's hard to stop."
Prop Ben Matulino, who was moved from the starting to 13 to the bench just prior to kick-off, said a heated video session exposed some of the areas where the Kiwi side fell glaringly short.
Despite finishing with equal possession and a superior completion rate compared to that of their opposition, the Warriors couldn't avoid falling to an opening-round loss for a sixth year straight.
"It wasn’t until we watched the video after the game and worked a few things out. We were a little bit off and some of the contact was a bit loose," Matulino said.
"The stuff we worked on over the pre-season, things like getting bodies in front, sometimes that wasn’t there.
"Guys from the Tigers were sticking their head through and bending the line. That's something we need to work on for a team like Brisbane.
"It is frustrating because that's the main thing we have been working on all off-season."
Meanwhile McFadden addressed the explosive rant from former Kiwis coach Graham Lowe, in which he claimed that the "Warriors are going backwards" and suggested the presence of a "bro culture" at the club.
"You would have to ask Graham [what "bro culture" is], I have no idea what he is talking about," McFadden said.
"Graham has obviously been around the game for a long time, he has got ideas on the way things should be done and I have got some other ideas.
"He is obviously very keen to get back into the game and we will just leave it at that. He has made comments, that's for other people to judge.
"It is Round 1 and he has obviously been a little reactive in his comments, but internally we have addressed it and that is what we will focus on."
