Everything Webby said on Tuaupiki blow, why Warriors lost & NRL ladder

New Zealand Warriors head coach Andrew Webster has opened up on his side’s disappointing 18-6 defeat at Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Saturday night.

The Warriors fell to third on the NRL ladder due to the loss, with the Sydney Roosters already having moved to second after their 23-22 victory over Newcastle Knights on Friday evening.

Post-match, Webster discusses several big issues, including why the Warriors lost, the injury to full-back Taine Tuaupiki, and his side’s ladder position.

Here’s everything he had to say below.

Webby on what went wrong for Warriors

“I think your attack flows off your defence, we were just run around like headless chooks.

“The Dogs were way more physical than us in that first period. They were offloading the ball well.

“Off the back of it, we were chasing around. We were not being ourselves. We sucked a lot of energy out of ourselves.

“Losing the possession battle early was critical. They were really good, and we weren’t at our best.

“We were hanging in there. We were scrambling and trying to throw some shots at the end of the game.

“But we didn’t set the game up, and they did. They were really good tonight. You have to give them credit too, but we really weren’t ourselves.

“We had a really good week of training. I didn’t see it coming. It was obviously something between the ears, either individual or as a collective.

“When you train right all week, it then becomes individual responsibility. We need to ask ourselves what we can do better. We’re good enough at our best, but it doesn’t look like that tonight.”

Webby on Taine Tuaupiki injury latest

“He’s (Taine Tuaupiki) done a foot injury. We’re not sure about the extent of it yet. We don’t think it’s long, long-term. But it’s obviously very sore, and he just couldn’t keep going.

“Taine has been doing a really good job keeping a player like Charnze (Nicoll-Klokstad) out, but he came on and had nothing but energy, and saved a few tries. It’s great cover, and we’re very lucky.”

Webby on the NRL ladder

“We never talk about the ladder and about how we need to win to stay in a certain position; nothing like that. We’re searching each week for our best game.

“We love it when we get close to it; we celebrate it. When we don’t, we look to get better. We’re not looking at ladders.

“We just know that if we focus on getting our best and if we do that, we’ll get what we want.”