Warriors hooker Ian Henderson is preparing for a big game from his good mate Nathan Fien in Sunday's NRL match against St George Illawarra.

Fien, who spent four and a half seasons in Auckland, joined the Dragons last month in a mid-season switch, making his debut in the round-18 48-18 victory over Manly.

And Henderson, who will line up against his friend in the No.9 jersey, said Fien will be determined to show his old employees what he can do.

"Most people are usually pretty determined to play well against their old club to show them what they've lost," Henderson said.

"But Nathan can do what Nathan wants to do. It's all about what I'm doing and what we're doing.

"It would be good to come up against Nathan. He's a good friend of mine but I won't be changing my game plan too much. I'll be thinking about myself rather than thinking about him."

Warriors assistant coach John Ackland says Fien hasn't even been discussed in team meetings.

"It's not been talked about. They're all professionals," Ackland said.

Instead Ackland said the focus had been on attempting to repeat the effort from the New Zealanders' last meeting with the table-topping Dragons earlier this season.

"We should have won that game actually," he said of the 12-11 defeat at WIN Stadium.

"We shot ourselves in the foot down there in Wollongong.

"If we can make our passes and get the ball to the right people at the right time and stop them from scoring some points, then we will walk away from here at six o'clock happy. How about that?"

Despite having just six wins to their name this year, Ackland said last week's 30-24 win over the bottom-placed Sydney Roosters had given the Warriors confidence.

And Dragons winger Brett Morris said his team didn't need reminding of the threat a hungry Warriors outfit could pose.

"It's always tough when you're playing New Zealand," Morris said.

"They had a win last week and if they want to be any chance of making the finals, they've got to win this weekend.

"We know they're going to be up for a big game and the crowd is going to get behind them.

"We've just got to go out there and do our best and everyone's just got to do their jobs."

Morris said Fien had already shown why coach Wayne Bennett was desperate to sign the New Zealand international, but he didn't know if Sunday's match would be a personal one for the hooker.

"I'm sure in the back of his mind he'd like to (prove something)," he said.

"If he wants to rub it in if we do get in front, then that's his decision."

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