Sharks wary of bounce-back factor ahead of Warriors clash

The Sharks are wary of the Warriors’ ability to ambush them in their first game under their interim coach, club legend Stacey Jones.

The Sharks are wary of the Warriors now that Jones (R) is at the helm. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Sharks veteran Matt Moylan says the New Zealand Warriors will be keen to bounce back from their horror month and impress new coach Stacey Jones when they meet his side in Redcliffe.

On Tuesday, the Warriors sacked Nathan Brown after the second-year coach told club powerbrokers that he was unwilling to relocate to New Zealand long-term.

For the remainder of the season, the Warriors will be coached by club legend Stacey Jones, who is overseeing their return to Auckland next month and coaching his first game this Sunday against the Sharks.

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The Warriors haven’t won since they last faced the Sharks five weeks ago — Cronulla ran out comfortable winners at Shark Park despite playing part of the game with 11 men on the field.

But as they look to recover from a loss of their own and bounce back into the top four, the Sharks won’t be taking the wounded Warriors lightly.

“It’s a new situation for them but they’ve got a legend of the game and their club in Stacey Jones taking over,” Moylan said.

“We’re going to have to prepare well and get out there and put in a good performance to bounce back from our last game.

“If we can limit the opportunities of some of their strike players, Reece Walsh, Shaun (Johnson), a couple of their outside backs, it’ll put us in good stead.

“But we’re going to have to play good footy.”

Moylan and the Sharks are facing the Warriors less than a week after they sacked their coach. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Moylan said it was a shame to have gone into the bye on the back of a hefty loss to the Roosters, who are jostling with the Sharks in the bottom half of the top eight.

“It wasn’t the way we would’ve liked to have gone into the week off, having that performance against the Roosters, but the boys have come in fresh this week,” Moylan said.

“Hopefully we can play a style of footy that we want to and that we can be proud of.”

The Sharks are one of three sides currently in the top eight to have lost more games away from home than they’ve won but Moylan said they wouldn’t be fazed by this weekend’s trip to Queensland — Cronulla’s third from four starts.

“We’ve spent a bit of time up in Queensland so it’s nothing new to us,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to getting back into it.