Warriors coach Stephen Kearney was left bemused as his side went missing in the second half in their defeat to the Melbourne Storm in Auckland.
The Warriors led 10-8 at the break before leaking 24 straight points to lose 32-10, delivering a significant blow to their playoff chances.
The turning point came just before halftime when Kiwis international Jahrome Hughes scored the Storms' first try, which invited the visitors back into the match.
The utility back then crossed for his second minutes into the second half, and it was one-way traffic from then on.
Kearney admitted he didn't see his side's second-half collapse happening.
"I didn't picture what we produced in the second half. I didn't see that coming; 24 unanswered points in the second half, it's pretty disappointing," Kearney said.
"I thought the first half was a real competitive contest, but we just lacked when we came out after halftime.
"They rolled up the field easily, put an attacking kick in and ended up getting the ball back to score early in the second half.
"It was disappointing because I just thought from that point on there was a real lack of digging our heels in and making it hard for them.
"At that stage, the game was 14-10, and the game's not beyond anyone."
Kearney was also left annoyed after the Warriors failed to make the most of the one-man advantage they had in the second half after Storm prop Christian Welch was sin-binned.
At the time the Storm led 18-10, and an onslaught from the Warriors failed to crack Melbourne's line. Instead the visitors went onto score a try through former Kiwis captain Jesse Bromwich.
"I think when that happens it builds a bit of frustration," Kearney said.
"When you get presented with that sort of opportunity, and you don't get any result from it, then it does perpetuate and build on top of the frustration that was already there."
On the flip-side, Storm coach Craig Bellamy felt that same period won his side the game.
"I thought our effort on our tryline when that sin-bin happened probably ended up winning the game for us," he said.
"They had 12 tackles there, and they looked likely a couple of times, but our guys were tremendous. You could tell by the bodies bent over how much it took out of us, but we still found a bit at the end to finish the game off defensively."
The Warrior's now have five days to bounce back and prepare for their next match on Friday night against the Titans on the Gold Coast.
"Our focus is making sure we stick at it, and it starts with the Titans next weekend," said Kearney.
"I know if we play our best footy and we do that on a consistent basis, and prior to the second half tonight over the last month we haven't been too bad."
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