Coach Andrew Webster has offered a word of warning to NZ Warriors fans, as the team enter a critical stage of a campaign that's already surpassed expectations.
After three consecutive wins, the team sit just one spot outside the top four to leave them firmly on track for a return to playoffs football, but before Friday's visit from competition heavyweights South Sydney Rabbitohs, Webster makes it clear the season starts now.
The Warriors are strapped in and ready to ride what's expected to be a rollercoaster nine weeks.
"The table will go up and down," said Webster. "The best teams will improve.
"The teams that don't won't actually go backwards, they'll just stay where they are.
"We want to be one of those better teams. This is where we've really got to fight for it."
Three consecutive wins have left fans resetting their expectations, but Webster isn't being lured into those conversations.
"We're not worried about where we finish," he continued. "Everyone else can put pressure on it.
"Everyone is trying to reset our goals for us, but we never had that goal to begin with, a number on the table."
While where they finish isn't of concern, improvement is.
"If you want to stay where you are, it won't hold up. We've got more in us and we are capable of more."
Fifteen games into the season, the Warriors have already racked up more wins than in any of their past three campaigns.
"Hopefully, we can just keep it rolling and don't try to get too far ahead of ourselves," said hooker Wayde Egan. "We've still got to work hard."
They'll hope to roll that momentum into a tough stretch of games over the next month.
They'll face the Rabbitohs, Parramatta Eels, Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Raiders - all teams fighting with the Warriors for a place in the finals.
"We think we can win, but we know we can only do that if we play our best football," said Webster. "I don't care about the next four weeks, I care about this week."
The club's resurgent form certainly has the fans believing. A soldout crowd has already been confirmed for Friday's match at Go Media Stadium Mt Smart.
Join Newshub at 8pm Friday for live updates of the Warriors v Rabbitohs clash or catch live coverage on Three and Three Now
