Warriors coach Stephen Kearney admitted his side were "beaten to the punch physically" in a disastrous 32-0 loss to the Sydney Roosters at Mt Smart Stadium.
For the second time in as many weeks, Kearney says his side lost the physical battle and failed to fire a shot as a result.
After five straight wins to start the season, the Warriors have now lost three of their past five matches, including thumping defeats at the hands of the Storm and Roosters.
The Roosters ran for more metres (1632), had five line breaks to the Warriors' zero and dominated the home side through their defence as well on their way to a sixth win of the season.
"I thought we got beaten tonight at the physical challenge," Kearney said.
"We spoke about that after the Broncos game a month ago. I thought we fought our way back into the contest in the second half but the Roosters had momentum early and certainly put some physical pressure on us.
"We got ourselves some opportunities with some penalties but we just hurt ourselves with errors out of the back field and built pressure on ourselves. From that sense it was pretty disappointing."
The Warriors were missing key playmakers Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke but Kearney was not prepared to use their absence as an excuse for a below-par showing which saw them held scoreless for the first time since Anzac Day 2016.
"I don't think that was the reason for not meeting the physical challenge," he said.
"For the most part this year we've done a pretty good regardless of who's filling in. Do we miss them? Yeah, possibly. But I don't think that hides the fact that the Roosters came here really determined and physical. We just couldn't match that."
Match highlights: Warriors v Roosters – Round 10, 2018
Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck said regardless of who plays in the crucial 1, 6, 7 and 9, they had to aim up and steer the side around.
"Mason Lino and Karl Lawton and myself could have done a lot better to help Greeny out tonight," Tuivasa-Sheck said.
"It felt like a lot of pressure was on Greeny to run the whole game and I need to put my hand up to run the work there. I know Mason's done it before and Greeny and Karl, those combinations need to be a lot better. We were disappointed we couldn't get points when we were down the attacking end."
