The New Zealand Warriors' 50-10 savaging from the Storm last week came as a shock to the entire club and its fans, prompting coach Stephen Kearney to challenge his players to bounce back on Saturday against the Wests Tigers.
The Warriors were enjoying their all-time best start to an NRL season before being hit by a Melbourne hurricane in last week's Anzac Day clash.
Kearney said his side ran into a red-hot Melbourne team and were blown away in the first half - a fact that he says the players haven't shied away from.
''We know ourselves that we are a lot better than that and that has been the message and the focus this week,'' he said.
''We need to get back to what worked for us over the first seven weeks before facing a very tough Tigers outfit.''
The Tigers have won their past four games against the Warriors. Six of their eight games this season have been decided by two points or less.
Warriors forward Adam Blair said his team's focus has shifted 100 per cent to to the Tigers, claiming last week's result would not leave any mental scarring following the 40 point loss.
''We were very clear straight after the game that we are playing in a tough competition and it's about making sure that we prepare mentally and individually as a group well,'' he said.
''It's behind us. You can see at training everyone is still pretty up-beat and our focus quickly shifted to our next game against the Tigers and Mooks [Kearney] has hammered that home. We have to be better than how we started against Melbourne.
''We have to turn up ready to go. When you are playing good footy like we had been, teams are going to come in with that extra bit of intensity, so preparation is key. We have to turn up with a mindset to play hard and play fast.''
Blair said he rated the Tigers as the best defensive team in the competition and knows the Warriors' attack will have to be on point if they are to get the result.
