Nathan Brown unhappy with ‘horrible’ Warriors display but says he is not out of ideas
Under-pressure Warriors coach Nathan Brown insists he has not run out of ideas but accepts his side were “horrible” in the first half as they slumped to a 44-12 defeat against Manly on Saturday.
The Warriors have picked up just four wins all season and sit 12th on the NRL ladder after 13 games. Brown’s side have now lost five games on the bounce and the pressure is mounting.
It is the manner of the performance in the first half that will have alarmed Warriors fans. They found themselves 24-0 down at the break. The Sea Eagles were without Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans. However it did not matter as Manly were still allowed to score with ease.
The performance also alarmed Brown who told reporters it was unacceptable.
Nathan Brown slams first-half display
“Our first half was obviously horrible, you can’t hide from that,” Brown said. “You can’t offer any excuses. They had three tries where they basically ran from dummyhalf and they tapped it and charged over and they had one where they ran off the dummyhalf and scored.
“You might accept one of them but not three. So the first half performance was the part of the game that was horrible.”
Brown said he would take a “fair hit” because it is down to him to prepare his team to start well. However he bristled when it was suggested he may have run out of ideas.
The Warriors coach also believes they need to start playing as a team, not individuals.
“I didn’t say I was out of ideas,” Brown responded to a journalist when the suggestion was put to him. “I’m not out of ideas.
“I think we are training well and preparing well and we have got players improving, but we are not getting all players on the same page on the same day. That is not an idea that is just what is happening.”
Reece Walsh says the players have to step up
Meanwhile Warriors fullback Reece Walsh said the defeat was not Brown’s fault. Indeed he said it is down to the players to look in the mirror and “sabotage” themselves.
“There’s no other way to put it,” Walsh said. “We put ourselves under pressure and, you know, we keep doing it every week.
“It’s not good enough. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. There’s just patches where we just don’t get it right. We just make it so easy for the other team. It’s really frustrating.”
The Warriors now have to pick themselves up for tough games against the Sharks and Panthers in the next two weeks.