Seething Sydney Roosters coach Brian Smith slammed an "unprofessional" and "unappreciated" time delay before the start of Saturday's 24-12 loss to the Warriors in Auckland.

The Roosters were seeing red after the Warriors stayed in the sheds for three extra minutes before kick-off, bizarrely leaving the visitors twiddling their thumbs on the paddock.

"I'm not sure what that was about. Maybe there was a fatality in the dressing room," Smith queried.

"It was very unappreciated and very unprofessional.

"I was thinking about making a couple of phone calls and finding out where they were."

On the field, skipper Braith Anasta was equally confused.

"I actually walked up to an official and said 'what the hell's going on?" he explained.

"Our players were looking at me saying 'what's going on?' I thought it was extremely unprofessional. I've never seen it, ever. I've been playing a long time now. It was really bizarre.

"I think he (the referee) said he was going to go try to find them. He didn't even know where they were."

Smith made it clear the delay did not affect the outcome and he would not be taking the matter further.

"If I thought it'd help us win, we'd do it to them next time we play them. That's not why we lost but it was a bizarre happening."

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary put it down to an upgrade of the outer No.2 field where the side normally prepares.

That also blocked the usual tunnel entrance.

"It was just a different way of doing things tonight," Cleary said."

"We've been accustomed to doing things the same way for five years."

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