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With the game on the line on Sunday afternoon against the Manly Sea Eagles, the Warriors coughed up two key errors to find defeat from the jaws of victory and sum up where they are at as a squad.

Seven points in front with five minutes left on the clock at their home stadium, the confidence-deficient Warriors couldn't hold on, going down 22-21 in golden point to clock their eighth-consecutive defeat.


The downfall started with Ata Hingano booming a restart out on the full as his team clung to a one-point lead in the dying minutes, and was compounded in extra time when Ken Maumalo gambled on a break down the edge and got bundled into touch, rather than stick to the middle and set up for a field goal.

"I think it says a fair bit about us in the sense that we probably are our own worst enemy at times," coach Stephen Kearney said.

"We just lacked the football presence to nail the door shut.

"That's where I am talking about that football awareness and when you are that close to the sideline on a pretty greasy night [like Maumalo was], it's probably a smart idea to come back into the middle of the field.

"That is where we have some individuals [who are struggling] from a football sense. That probably wasn't the ideal option for us to take.

"We did a great deal right out there, we just couldn't finish it off… it [was] a shed full of heartbroken and disappointed players."

Up until the closing exchanges the Warriors had played some of their best football since the midway point of the season, and Sunday afternoon was the first time in six games that they have managed to score more than three tries in a match.

On the other side of the ball they also showed improved resilience to survive numerous sets camped on their own line.

Back-rower Bunty Afoa reflected on an effort his team could be proud of, but lamented their inability to react to mistakes.  

"I think everyone did their job, it's just those moments under fatigue and we pulled up with a mistake," Afoa said.

"I don't put anything down on Ken or Ata… it's part of the game, you make errors. 

"Any person could have [made] mistakes in those moments, but for us we have all got to switch on as a group and go on to the next job which is defending."

A ninth-straight loss on Sunday against the Wests Tigers would see the Warriors set an unwanted new club record for a single season, with nine-straight defeats. 

 

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