The dangers of playing a lowly placed team are there again for Manly but Coach Trent Barrett is solely focused on getting the best out of his team.
Sitting in eighth place, the Sea Eagles tackle the 13th-placed Warriors at Mt Smart in Auckland tomorrow searching for a much needed victory to move closer to securing a finals berth.
Barrett said the side has learnt a very valuable lesson following consecutive losses to the lowly placed Wests Tigers and the Bulldogs in the past fortnight.
“We have found out the last couple of weeks it doesn’t matter where anyone sits on the table, or their past form, if you are not on, you get beaten,’’ Barrett said today.
“They have got some really dangerous players in their side. A lot of internationals. Two terrific halves (Shaun Johnson, Kieran Foran) that we expect to play and their full-back (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck) is a superstar. We are going to have be very good to stop them.
“It is up the players tomorrow. We are going to need 17 players near their best, or at their best, against a really strong Warriors side playing at home.
“We have been in a flat spot for the last 4-5 weeks. The Roosters game, I thought we pulled ourselves through it and then two disappointing results in the last couple of weeks.
“Over the last month, we have been on the wrong side of possession and not completing our sets at not a high enough rate and that certainly affects what a lot of people do in the team.
“We just have to worry about ourselves. It is a dangerous game. We need a (good) result tomorrow.”
Sea Eagles supporters will also be hoping the good record against the Warriors continues.
Manly has won 22 of the 30 clashes against the Warriors, giving them the best record against any other NRL side.
The Sea Eagles have won the past six straight matches, and 12 of the past 13 matches against the Warriors.
Manly have also won 10 of the 13 matches played at Mt Smart Stadium, including the past three straight.
Kick-off is 4pm (NZ time).
