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Warriors eye comeback as premiership push intensifies
Savannah Lendich Jonkers • July 30th, 2026 9:13 am
Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
The Warriors are preparing for a statement comeback this weekend in an effort to retain a top four spot and keep their premiership hopes alive.
Assistant coach Slade Griffin shared that the players have owned their individual performances, which cost them a win last week against the Bulldogs and second place on the NRL ladder.
“We had an honest conversation this week and a lot of the boys aren't very happy with their performance and they're a real prideful group so they've owned it and we're expecting a fair bounce-back this week.” He told Sport Nation’s Millsy & Guy,
“You can feel the intent and the purpose and their training this week, their messaging to each other.”
Alarm bells ring in Warriors' one-sided loss to Bulldogs | Scotty & Izzy
On Saturday, the Warriors, who sit third on the table behind the Panthers and Roosters will face a 13th place Titans side that came close to beating them 28-20 in round seven, despite having a full-strength team.
“The Titans are a very good team, so I'm sure they play their own style of footy that we're going to have to be able to contain, but hoping to see a bounce-back.”
Griffin also backed the halves pairing of Te Maire Martin and Chanel Harris-Tavita, despite outside calls for Luke Metcalf to be brought into the starting lineup, which only escalated after last week.
“They've been playing great footy. We're in the top four at the moment.
“I think everyone didn't have their greatest game and when you're not laying the platform, it's hard for a halfback to play well.
“It's a bit hard to kind of compare one guy. I know there's good competition there, but a lot of the players didn't play well on the weekend so hopefully if we lay a bit of a platform they'll bring out the best in them again,” Griffin shared.
Te Maire Martin | Photo: Photosport
In an effort to freshen the squad, the Warriors moved training forward by a day to allow for an extra rest day before the match.
“It's hard with the travel back from Australia, you’ve got to give or take somewhere so hopefully that'll set them up for the game this weekend but we had a really good session.”
The forward pack appears to be leading the response, with Griffin pointing to a more physical edge at training.
“The forwards are ripping into each other with their tackling. They took that personally and it always starts with how you train. So Mitch Barnett and Fish (James Fisher-Harris) and Erin Clark are ripping in today, so hopefully we can take that into the game.”
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Listen to the full interview below:
