RTS rethink needed after Knights make him non-factor

A rethink on how captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is used in games could be on the cards for the Warriors, after Newcastle nullified the superstar fullback's running game en route to a 36-18 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Tuivasa-Sheck ran for just 96 metres in their round-eight loss after averaging 194m in his previous six games this year.

The fact that just two of those metres came on kick returns is telling, with Mitchell Pearce and his cohorts executing a plan which ensured the reigning Dally M Medal winner hardly featured in that part of the game.

Warriors halfback Blake Green said he expected teams would now continue to employ the tactic.

"Yep, definitely [other teams will try it], the Cowboys did the same thing to us and got the result and the Knights did tonight too," Green said.

"It's something we need to look at, something we need to address and come up with a way to sort of negate that.

"We need to force their hand a little bit and make them kick inside their own half, then you can't grubber the ball into touch.

"When you are losing that battle in the middle of the field and teams are rolling down to the 30, they can dink it out and it's a good result for them to have a scrum 20 metres out."

Stephen Kearney directed responsibility to the coaching staff, saying it was up to them to find answers to the problem.  

"If teams are going to take that approach we have to have a plan for it … that's our job as coaches to find a way around it," the Warriors head coach said.

"The pressure that they were putting on us, just by strangling [us] really, when we were coming out of the back field, took its toll.

"It can be quite challenging when you start sets off the back foot."

After putting in their best performance of the year in a gritty 13-12 loss to the Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day, the Warriors appeared to take a step backwards against the Knights, despite Tuivasa-Sheck and Green returning from injury.

After not conceding a single line break against the Storm, they allowed the Knights to clock up five, while Newcastle's 1691 run metres was 336m more than the Auckland-based side managed.

Kearney conceded his side lacked desire.

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"A team came here with a lot more intention, a lot more purpose, and the old story, they wanted it a bit more than we did," Kearney said.

"We came up short which was disappointing after working really hard last week and getting a couple back tonight in terms of injuries.

"I am [worried about confidence]. But there's only one way to find your confidence and that's to work your way through it … and that's my message to the boys tonight."