Sport

Concerns for coach Kearney

11:20 am on 26 May 2019

A disjointed attack and Jazz Tevaga's ankle are the biggest Warriors headaches heading into potentially their most fruitful stage of the NRL season.

Coach Stephen Kearney was unsettled by his team's failure to even come close to scoring a try during the Warriors' 8-2 loss to Brisbane last night, a result that ends their two game mini-revival since signing Kodi Nikorima.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Despite enjoying the lion's share of field position, the home side didn't manufacture a single line break in unfurling their first try-less performance for more than a year.

The Warriors drop to 4-7 and Kearney says some harsh analysis awaits his players during a bye week before they host Melbourne.

"The reality is, we got ourselves in a position where we could have come up with scoring plays but we didn't," Kearney said.

"It's all very well having the effort but we just didn't execute well. Some key positions tonight weren't quite at the top of our game."

Kearney was referring to his spine, with skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Nikorima, Blake Green and Issac Luke all well contained by rushing Broncos defence.

Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold revealed the key to victory was denying time for halfback Green and Kearney agreed his team failed to adjust.

Nikorima's thunder was stolen by former Broncos halves partner Anthony Milford, who bagged the match-winning try in the second half.

The Kiwi club's brighthest moments were again created by barnstorming wingers Ken Maumalo and David Fusitu'a, who ran for nearly 400m between them.

They missed the impact of interchange star Tevaga, a stand-out performer in wins over St George illawarra and Penrith. He lasted just eight minutes before suffering a high ankle sprain.

"He's a pretty tough kid so for him to limp off like that, it must be something fairly significant," Kearney said.

The Warriors are otherwise free of major injury concerns, unlike a lot of their rivals.

They also won't have any player caught up in the State of Origin juggle, making the coming rounds a chance to make headway in the clogged mid-table standings against more affected opposition.

-AAP