After an inconsistent season start, the Warriors have hit a purple patch over the past fortnight, with big wins over Brisbane and Newcastle propelling them up into ninth spot on the NRL ladder. The Roosters, minor premiers in each of the past three seasons, are wallowing in 15th after losing three of their past four games, including Saturday's 46-0 thrashing from Melbourne.
Warriors coach Andrew McFadden is surprised the Roosters have managed just three wins from 13 games, but warns the visitors have the fire-power and class to bounce back and halt his side's winning run.
The Tricolours will be without State of Origin stars Blake Ferguson and Aidan Guerra, but they welcome the return of Kiwis test centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall from a foot injury and big-hitting lock Dylan Napa from suspension.
"We've been there as well, so I know you can turn it around very quickly," said McFadden. "There's no doubt there's a lot of quality in their side but that just shows you the quality of the competition and how things can change so fast.
"The guys coming back in their side in Napa, and particularly Kenny-Dowall, he changes them a fair bit. That will make a big difference for them, so we're certainly anticipating a very strong performance."
The Warriors are brimming with confidence after running in 16 tries and conceding just 32 points in their past two outings, but McFadden is expecting further improvement from his side.
The forwards have led the way in recent weeks, laying the platform for their backline stars, but they face a stiff challenge from a Roosters pack featuring Kiwis test front-rowers Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Sam Moa, and captain and hooker Jake Friend.
"We can get better, there's no doubt about that," he said. "There's still parts of our game that we need to work on and that will always be the case.
"We've got a nice balance at the moment but we know that this game will present its own challenges and we can't expect it to be the same.
"We're obviously building some confidence up in our game so we've just got to keep the momentum going.
"What's got us to this point is focusing on ourselves and we'll continue to do that."
The Warriors' lethal right-side attack that engineered five tries against the hapless Knights is sure to target the Roosters inexperienced left-edge which leaked five four-pointers to the rampant Storm.
Hamilton-born Joseph Manu will debut for the Roosters on the left wing in place of Ferguson, and his combination with centre Dale Copley and fill-in five-eighth Ryan Matterson will be key to stopping Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson and prolific try-scoring wing David Fusitu'a.
"I'm sure they'll be working very hard on that this week," McFadden said. "The Roosters typically have been a very strong defensive side so I'm sure they'll be able to sort that out pretty quickly.
"Just like every team, you prepare, [for] what works for you as well. We've got to obviously stick to our strengths."
