Warriors put traumatic week behind them with victory over Dragons

Warriors 26-10 Dragons

The six players stood down by the Warriors don't deserve to represent their countries, club managing director Jim Doyle says.

Doyle and Warriors coach Andrew McFadden have punished Ben Matulino, Manu Vatuvei, Bodene Thompson, Konrad Hurrell, Sam Lisone and Albert Vete even further, by making them unavailable for next weekend's international round of matches.

The six breached team protocol on Tuesday night with a late night social session, following Monday's embarrassing 42-0 thrashing by the Melbourne Storm.

Quick hands: Warrior Shaun Johnson passes as he tries to get around Will Matthews. Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung

"To get selected to play international football is a reward," said Doyle, who suspended the players for Sunday's 26-10 win over the Dragons.

"It's a reward for how you play on the field and it's also for how you conduct yourself off the field.

"We've had a few players this week who haven't conducted themselves off the field in line with the club's standards, so those players don't deserve a reward, hence the reason why they will not be selected for international football."

At last: Issac Luke and Jazz Tevaga celebrate their win over the Dragons. Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung

The club are within their rights to stop players running out for their countries, so it means Vatuvei, Matulino and Thompson won't be able to play for the Kiwis in Friday night's last ever Anzac Test in Newcastle.

Hurrell and Vete will not be able to play for Tonga in Saturday's game against Samoa and Sam Lisone won't be in the opposition team.

The Kiwis will be desperate to beat the Kangaroos for the fourth straight time next weekend and by taking this step it could be argued that the Warriors are punishing the country as much as the players.

Matulino and Vatuvei between them have 51 test caps for the Kiwis.

However, Doyle is unrepentant on his hard line stance.

"I think you'll find that New Zealand Rugby League will also tell you that what the players have done off the field is not in line with their standards also," he said.

"As a club, we have not penalised anyone, the people who've penalised the fans and members are the players themselves and they need to be accountable.

"The players have done what they've done, not us and we've taken the appropriate action."

McFadden refused to discuss the issue in his press conference after the Warriors beat the Dragons 26-10. He also wouldn't give a time line on when they'd be allowed to play for the Warriors again.

"Everyone makes mistakes, these guys have made mistakes," he said. 

"They've been held accountable now and deserve a second chance, but whether that second chance is good enough to get them in the team, we'll see."

Given that some of the replacement players who came into the side for the Dragons game performed exceptionally well, McFadden may also feel he deserves to reward them by selecting them in their next game, against the Panthers in Christchurch on May 14.

"We'll see," he said. 

"We've got a bye. I'm sure we're going to need a little rest after that [Dragons game], there will certainly be a lot of emotion there. 

"We'll talk through it, we've got to speak to those guys and make sure they understand that that can't happen again.

Doyle also couldn't say when they'd be back in Warriors' NRL jerseys. 

"That's something we're working through," he said. 

"We're working with these players every day at the moment."

The Warriorsproduced one of the best performances by the team this year for a confidence-building victory at Mt Smart Stadium that breathed life back into their season.

It also eased the pressure on under-fire coach Andrew McFadden and ended an 11-game losing streak to the Dragons.