Hooker Ian Henderson is confident the New Zealand Warriors can turn their NRL season around, citing last year's second half comeback as motivation.

The Warriors find themselves in a similar situation to 12 months ago, languishing in 13th spot at the midway point of the competition and facing an away trip to Cronulla.

Last June, they were also mired in a six-match losing streak, but ground out a gutsy 12-2 win against the Sharks at a windy and wet Toyota Stadium.

The victory kicked off a resurgence in fortunes that ended with a top four finish and a home final.

Henderson was with English Super League club Bradford at the time, but he's knows all about the Warriors' recovery.

"They were in a worse position last year and they came back to come fourth," he said.

"There's no reason why we can't do that again or even better. It's only half way through the season. It's a long way to go."

Like a year ago, the Warriors will have skipper Steve Price back from Queensland State of Origin duty.

They will also have centre Brent Tate backing up, with the pair outstanding for the Maroons in a series-tying 30-0 whitewash of NSW on Wednesday night.

But the Warriors face an in-form Cronulla side who have won four of their past five matches to lift themselves to fifth on the table and be separated from leaders Manly by points difference alone.

The Sharks also have two players backing up from Origin in NSW stars Greg Bird and Paul Gallen.

The Warriors' own form guide shows three losses of their last four starts, their sole success being their first away win of the season at Newcastle a fortnight ago.

Their biggest disappointment of the campaign so far came last weekend, when they let slip an early point-a-minute 14-0 lead to go down to bottom club South Sydney 35-28.

That result also reinforced the Warriors' status as the NRL's worst defenders, with a total of 361 points conceded, or an average of 30 a game.

Henderson said defence had been a focus for the Warriors this week.

He believed lapses in concentration were probably the main reason for the number of points being leaked.

In the victories over Canberra (14-6) and the Knights (18-16), the Warriors had managed to keep the opposition attack in reasonable check.

"But some other weeks, we let in three easy tries and it gets bumped straight up to 30 points and doesn't look good for us," Henderson said.

"We just have to work harder in training, have a bit more desire and take that on to the pitch."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP