Hard-nosed Warriors score an A for their 'D'

The Warriors' ability to score points has never been in question but it's their work in defence which has been the most pleasing aspect of back-to-back victories over the Dragons and Panthers.  

Stephen Kearney's men went 70 minutes without leaking a point against Penrith in round 10 before conceding two late tries. The previous week they kept the Dragons scoreless for the final hour of their Magic Round clash.

That's 10 points conceded in their last 140 minutes of football - a huge boost heading into Saturday's home clash with a Brisbane side brimming with confidence after knocking off the Roosters last week.

"The attitude the boys have applied in defence, that's the biggest thing [from the last two games]," said captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

"We know the games that we have lost [this year] we have lost because we had bad defence.

"Defending back-to-back sets and the way the boys just kept turning up, that's what I have been pleased with.

"That's the system we have been working towards and it's really pleasing to see we are finally getting it together. The defensive system is what wins you games, that's what's going to get you up in the top eight.

"The challenge is to bring it each week now."

The Warriors are still conceding 21.8ppg after 10 rounds and are well aware they will need to bring that down significantly if they are to make the top eight.

Kearney said with the exception of a late collapse against Newcastle in round eight, his side had shown gradual improvement in their defence through the last two months.

"Apart from the back end of the Knights game I thought there were some pretty positive signs there with our defence," Kearney said.

"Our line speed looked pretty good [against the Panthers]... I thought we had been building in terms of our defensive performance, but it will really be tested this week.

"The Broncos have a big, physical pack with plenty of energy, so we will have to be at our best on Saturday."

Interchange forward Jazz Tevaga told NRL.com the tougher defensive stance has come on the back of the forwards facing some hard truths in the wake of a 36-18 home loss to Newcastle.

"A lot of it came down to our forward pack being accountable," Tevaga said.

"It was at a review session after the Knights game and the forward pack owned up... that's because we knew it ourselves, we just knew we weren't doing a good enough job.

"Our back five were doing a pretty good job… but our forward pack weren't matching other teams.

"We took that personally and our attitude now has got a bit more mongrel in it and hunger around our defence.

"You could see last week that everyone was working for each other, we were actually taking pride in our line and trying our best not to let them over."