The Kiwis contingent in Canterbury’s monster forward pack are problematic enough for Warriors coach Matthew Elliott, but their winger Sam Perrett is setting off as many alarm bells ahead of their historic NRL match.
Saturday’s fixture in Wellington is the first competition match hosted by the Warriors outside Auckland.
They played five games in the capital from 2001 to 2004 and didn’t win any, including four that were officially Bulldogs’ home games.
Reversing that record will be a challenge for Elliott’s men against the Sydneysiders, who now closely resemble the outfit who bulldozed their way into last year’s grand final after a slow start to 2013.
The return of powerhouse props Sam Kasiano and James Graham provided an ominous lift in muscle last weekend. They climbed to 10th with a 40-4 thrashing of the Wests Tigers, their third win after a slow start to the season.
Hardened Kiwis forwards Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Greg Eastwood and Dene Halatau help make the Bulldogs pack one of the most dominant in the NRL.
Elliott admitted his team – who improved to 14th after last weekend’s one-point win over the Gold Coast Titans – would have their hands full up front.
However, he said the Bulldogs’ go-forward was often sparked from other parts of the field, singling out Perrett as highly effective.
“Sammy’s more than a fair player. A lot of their play comes off Sam Perrett’s fast play-the-balls,” Elliott said of the 21-Test veteran.
“He’s a guy I thought really helped turn their season around last year. Don’t underestimate the impact someone like that can have on a game.”
It is 10 months since the Warriors last won back-to-back games, before they spiralled into an eight-game losing streak at the end of last season.
Elliott says while his team underwent more last-quarter jitters against Gold Coast, the fact they won had injected a different mentality this week.
“For me personally, it was an opportunity to learn from winning as opposed to learn from losing,” he said.
“I’ve got to say, the guys’ resilience right through those tough times where they’ve been playing against really high quality teams and not getting the result was quite inspiring.”
Both teams trained lightly in freezing temperatures on Friday.
Ticket pre-sales have reached 24,000, a figure which will please Warriors management because of the cost associated with shifting cities.