A fifth-straight loss has left the Warriors in no-man's-land as far as the 2017 NRL season goes, but for Stephen Kearney the time is now to make some serious personnel decisions.
The beleaguered New Zealand club were limp against perennial wooden-spooners the Newcastle Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium in the Hunter Valley on Saturday afternoon.
The 26-10 loss leaves the Warriors languishing in 12th position with their playoff hopes vanquished. They are now in serious threat of finishing the competition at the tail end of the ladder.
Kearney said he is extremely frustrated and disappointed that numerous players have practically given up.
"There were some guys out there that were trying really hard but some from others that were very questionable," Kearney said post-game.
"In this competition you just can't have that. It wasn't a pretty first half and didn't get better in the second - it's obvious the group are lacking confidence."
When asked if the time was now to clean out the playing group and introduce some fresh blood, Kearney said that it was indeed a realistic proposition.
"I'll have to have a good think about that," he said.
"If I thought making wholesale changes was going to change some things out there, I would have made changes a while ago. If individuals aren't up to getting that done then we'll have to get some new ones in there.
"It's been a tough few years for the footy club and we're trying to turn things around."
The biggest roadblock for the Warriors coaching staff is depth. With key players Ryan Hoffman, Shaun Johnson, James Gavet and Bodene Thompson all in the injury ward, Kearney has already turned to an assortment of the club's younger talent.
The former Kiwis international said there is only so much he can do when it comes to player turnaround.
"That's one thing I can't change with the click of a finger and there is a lot of things at the club that need to improve."
The club will miss finals football for the sixth-straight year - a period in which the Warriors have had four head coaches, more than any other club in the same time frame.
Kearney said the constant change in players and coaching staff has affected the club to the point that the culture is fractured.
He acknowledged the poor results have heaped pressure on him, but all he can do is try and fix what he perceives as wrongs.
"We've got scars there that have been there for quite some time and we have to keep chipping away at it.
"There's only one group of people who are going to get us out of this and that's everyone in the dressing sheds."
The Warriors have four games remaining - starting with the Raiders in Auckland next Sunday.
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