After more than 400 tackles and 90 minutes of hard-hitting footy on Saturday, you'd forgive the Warriors for easing into training this week ahead of Friday's match against the Dragons.
But the tackle bags came out at Mt Smart Stadium this morning and the intensity came with it.
The Kiwi NRL side was back to work after Saturday's 22-all thriller with Manly, knowing they're no longer seen as underdogs in the competition.
They finished one win short of last year’s Grand Final and have opened 2024 with three wins, two losses and a draw to sit seventh – a new level of consistency under coach Andrew Webster that the other 16 clubs now respect.
"We're not flying under the radar — they're coming to get us," Webster said.
"People are coming over here expecting a big game and that's good — that's the kind of games we want to be in," second rower Kurt Capewell added.
"The more experience you have in those games, the better off you are."
Their most recent experience on Saturday taught them about composure after slipping up early in the wet and handing the Sea Eagles a 16-0 lead.
"Things like that can throw you as a team sometimes but I thought it was really good the way [captain] Tohu [Harris] stood up and said, 'let's just get back to what we know works and what we do best'."
The side then fired back with two blows before the break, including a Dallin Watene-Zelezniak intercept and runaway try in the final moments.
While Watene-Zelezniak leads the competition in intercepts with three already this season, he said it’s not an opportunity he’s actively looking for.
"A lot of people think I actually go for those but it's not my first thought. It just sort of happens to be out in front of me."
It’s a similar mindset the winger appears to be taking to the rest of his game as he continues to thrive in the Webster era of the Warriors.
His two crucial tries at the weekend boosting his tally to 28 trips over the chalk in 25 games under “Webby” — career-best form brought about by trust and communication between the two.
"He understands that what we need him to do is important and we just need him to be consistent with it,” Webster said.
“And then he prepares unbelievably around that because he knows exactly what's required of him."
Watene-Zelezniak added that clarity is the key to his resurgence.
"Everyone thinks that I must be doing something different or working harder or anything but to be honest, things have just got a lot more simple for me and when you get some simplicity and you're clear on your role, it's really easy to do."
The Warriors will be hoping things are equally simple on Friday when they take on the Dragons in Wollongong.
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