Half James Maloney wants the New Zealand Warriors to start providing themselves with a bit of insurance in the National Rugby League.
The Warriors are away to Newcastle on Sunday in a battle between two sides who are in the bottom half of the table at the mid-point of the season and needing to get a run of some substance going.
"It's a big game for us, especially with the bye the following week," Maloney said.
"We don't want to be coming to the end of the season having to win three or four straight. You want to have a couple up your sleeve."
The Warriors have struggled with a succession of injuries to frontline players since round one, but they remain within touching distance of the top eight, just two points below Brisbane and Parramatta, who are just inside the cut.
They are coming off two consecutive losses, but they did run leaders St George Illawarra close last weekend despite being undermanned.
After losing former test centre Brent Tate with a fractured jaw early in the match, they had their chances to pull off an upset in the closing stages before falling short 22-20.
Maloney admitted there was still some residual pain that the Warriors' spirited performance wasn't enough to get them over the line against the Dragons.
"I suppose it still hurts," he said. "It was a little bit frustrating when you come so close. We played strongly for a lot of the game and a few things probably cost us.
"It takes it out of you but you have to turn around and back up the next week. We've still got another 12 weeks. It's a long time to go."
Against the Dragons, Maloney was part of a new halves combination with Isaac John, who was at five-eighth in what was his first NRL appearance of the season.
John produced an effective kicking game and plenty of talk for his forwards.
He also finished a big break by winger Kevin Locke to score a try that Maloney converted to cut the deficit to two points and set up a nail-biting, although ultimately scoreless, final 18 minutes.
With halfback Brett Seymour expected to be out for another month with a knee injury, Maloney, 23, becomes the club's senior playmaker, albeit with just 15 NRL games under his belt, four of them for Melbourne last season.
John, 21, also made his NRL debut last year, when he appeared three times for the Warriors.
Coach Ivan Cleary has opted to get them to swap jerseys against Newcastle, with John wearing the No 7, although Maloney still spent plenty of time as first receiver during training.
"I just think the way Isaac talks, he'll make a lot of the initial calls and I'll just play around that," Maloney said. "It gives me a bit more freedom."
Like their opponents, Newcastle are coming off back-to-back losses that have left in 12th spot, one place and two points below the Warriors.
They will be without fullback Kurt Gidley, who is on New South Wales Origin duty, and a worrying statistic for them is that they have lost five of their six matches when their skipper has been absent this season.
Newcastle lead the head-to-head history between the two sides with 14 wins, nine losses and a draw, but recent results favour the Warriors, who have come out on top in six of their past eight encounters.
