Rugby: Warriors aim to regroup

Losing is not something that the McDonalds South West Warriors have become accustomed to in 2011.

Watch out then South Perth, who face the daunting task of travelling to Bunbury to play a Warriors side on the rebound this Saturday.

Last weekend’s 20-10 loss to fellow WA Rugby League premier grade heavyweights Rockingham has been the catalyst for a heavy week on the training track according to South West captain Matt Goodeson.

After starting the season with thumping wins over Willagee and Kalamunda, fixtures in recent weeks against reigning premiers North Beach and Rockingham have proved a much sterner test for the Warriors.

‘‘Our ball control last week was absolutely terrible,’’ Goodeson said.

‘‘It’s definitely something that we want to improve on this week.

‘‘We dropped the ball a lot, I’m not sure whether we were trying to over-play the ball or not.

‘‘This week we’re just going to take our time and we’ll be in the right frame of mind.’’

Coach Darren Shaw was confident that the Warriors could overcome the skill errors, but that in the meantime they were hurting his side.

‘‘It’s just a basic error,’’ he said.

‘‘We just panic a little bit and we’re not showing enough composure.

‘‘It has a big knock-on effect where you have to tackle too much and get tired and that affects your attack so it’s a bit of a vicious circle.’’

Goodeson and Brad Sharphan both crossed for the Warriors in Saturday’s loss at Lark Hill — the club’s first defeat for 2011.

The Warriors trailed 14-6 at half time.

‘‘We were probably down in the dumps a little bit at training during the week but we’ll bounce back,’’ Goodeson said.

‘‘I think that we’ve probably got our heads right now and are ready for the weekend.’’

South West take on the South Perth Lions from 3.15pm this Saturday at the Bunbury Recreation Ground.