NRL: Warriors looking dire

There's no way to sugar coat it - the Warriors are rubbish. At least they have been for two consecutive matches. The NRL season may be a long and winding road - and the Warriors may have been in a similar position before and bounced back - but this looks dire. Yesterday's match against the Raiders was supposed to be a chance for the players to show how hurt they were from their thrashing by the Roosters eight days earlier. Instead, after a week of bonding on the NSW coast, they collectively lay down and asked for more. They got it, too, with the Raiders happy to play steamroller to the Warriors' dead possum. The problems are numerous. They start up front in a pack that lacks consistency, in terms of an adherence to a collective purpose and the quality of the output from its personnel. The revival of the past two years was built on the unwavering efforts of the big men in the middle. The 2012 pack isn't so much a unit as a random collection of beings. The uncertainty up front is a reflection of the skittery halves that are supposed to be the guiding force. Shaun Johnson continues to be a wonderful attacking threat from broken play but providing direction is not yet a strength. Even the redoubtable James Maloney seemed to shrink from the task yesterday, uncharacteristically slipping off tackles to concede the final two tries. Out wide, Manu Vatuvei's defence has always been a concern. Now it appears to have become a liability. The ease with which the Raiders continually outflanked him was car crash-oggling material. In fairness to those already named, if coach Brian McClennan asks all those who are underperforming to take a hard look at themselves, the club will require delivery of a hefty consignment of mirrors. The scoring details hardly matter. The Raiders ran in seven tries, hardly kicked a goal and ran out winners by 20 points. The most concerning factor is the obvious lack of desire in the Warriors' ranks. They just about held their own for the first 15 minutes, but when Blake Ferguson got on the outside of Vatuvei and kicked infield Raiders fullback Reece Robinson simply wanted to score more than the covering Johnson wanted to stop him. The same applied when Ferguson climbed above fullback Glen Fisiiahi to claim a bomb and set up the Raiders' second try. That set the tone for the remainder of the contest, even if the Warriors did rally briefly either side of halftime. "It was pretty ordinary," Maloney said in what was a significant understatement. "There is always another week in football, I guess. It's back to the drawing board and we'll see what we can do." Having inherited a side that made the grand final last season, the man in charge of the drawing board is coming under increasing pressure. McClennan may well ring some changes - he could soon have Kevin Locke, Konrad Hurrell and Krisnan Inu at his disposal - however, the one commodity he will struggle to drum up is experience. With the club having allowed a raft of veteran hands to depart, including Lance Hohaia, Brett Seymour, Joel Moon, Shaun Berrigan and Aaron Heremaia, and replaced largely from its two-time champion NYC team, the experience deficit is pronounced. Throw in the loss to injury of Micheal Luck and Jacob Lillyman and it appears to have become a significant issue. The club has given youth a chance, but much of that youth is floundering in what is a brutal proving ground. Growing pains were always expected, but now the level of pain is far outweighing any growth. With a rejuvenated South Sydney followed by dates with the high-flying Storm and Broncos and a rematch with the Roosters on the horizon, things don't get any easier.