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Harris: Warriors are tougher mentally this year

David Long

Warriors captain Tohu Harris believes it’s the mental resilience Andrew Webster has instilled at the club that’s played a big part in the team’s great start to the year.

The Warriors won their first game in Townsville in five years on Saturday night, defeating the Cowboys 26-12.

It came off the back of a season opening victory over the Knights and a spirited defeat to Roosters, and even though the new NRL season is only three weeks old, there’s already enough evidence to see that the the Warriors are a different team.

Harris, who played his 200th game in the NRL on Saturday, puts the change down to a combination of the new players, the tactical coaching and also the team’s mental attitude under Webster.

‘‘It’s been a bit of everything,’’ Harris said. ‘‘There are a number of things we’ve worked on, whether it’s technical, mental, we’ve worked on all of it.

‘‘Webby [Webster] has been awesome, right from the outset. He’s tested our resilience, he’s come in and tried to build anxiety within the group and we have to turn up each and every day, face that anxiety and respond.

‘‘That’s the same thing we see on game day, we get put in situations where we’re under pressure and we have to respond well. We’ve been working on that every day we’ve gone into the footy club and that’s one thing I think has really translated onto the field.’’

There was one moment in the game which showed what this new look Warriors side is all about.

The Cowboys had the early pressure in the second half, when trailing 16-12. The ball was moved wide to Gehamat Shibasaki on the last tackle and he had space in front of him.

But Marcelo Montoya quickly came off the line and nailed the Cowboys centre.

After that, the Warriors went straight down the other end, with Adam Pompey offloading the ball while being held in the air in a tackle and Ed Kosi scored a try.

What happened then wasn’t lost on Harris.

‘‘To be able to defend multiple sets on your line and then go down the other end and score a try, that’s massive in big games,’’ he said.

‘‘It can break teams and also give teams the momentum to go on and win a game. I thought those efforts on our line were huge in us winning the game and especially in that moment where it could swing either way.’’

The Warriors will at last play at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday and given their bright start to the season a big crowd is expected for the game against the Bulldogs.

It was evident last year how much it meant to the players to run out at Mt Smart Stadium and Harris says it will be a great occasion to play there again this weekend.

Meanwhile, Mitch Barnett has been cleared of a major neck injury and was able to fly home

with the team yesterday.

Barnett, 28, left the field in discomfort clutching his neck and shoulder area after being tackled by three North Queensland players in the 54th minute.

Shibasaki was subsequently put on report by referee Chris Sutton. Warriors head coach Andrew Webster said Barnett was taken to hospital as a precaution on Saturday night. He was cleared of any fracture and was later discharged to rejoin the team.

While Barnett will undergo further assessment this week Webster said he was up and about walking freely yesterday morning.

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2023-03-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

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