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The home crowd were left disappointed as despite losing two men to the sin-bin, the Panthers were too good for the Warriors claiming a 19-18 victory in Golden Point.
Well, what can you say about that performance?
The Warriors appeared to have the win in the bag when they were leading 16-12 with only three minutes remaining but sitting in the stands I had a bad feeling that the Panthers were going to get out of jail and unfortunately my feeling was correct.
I'm unsure as to what happened, maybe the Warriors thought the game was over and took their foot off the gas, or perhaps they were just lucky to be ahead and were always staring down the barrel of defeat.
The absence of Tohu Harris had a visible effect, with the Warriors defensive line missing his large frame and I think they missed Lachlan Burr also, the Panthers have a large pack and missing two of the larger bodies in the squad took its toll.
Jazz Tevaga got his chance to start at lock and in my opinion, I don't think it worked, Jazz always plays his best football in limited minutes for my mind as when he is out there for an extended period his error rate climbs tenfold.
Hopefully, Burr returns next week taking that lock spot back and improving the Warriors defence in the middle.
There wasn't a lot to praise in this performance, but it wasn't all doom and gloom, which leads me to my positives.
David Fusitu'a was more active in this match, he is always up for taking hit ups, but he appeared to be running with intent and searching for opportunities. He finally returned to the scoreboard (although the try should not have been awarded as he was out, unfortunately) and if he can get himself into the match more in the future, we could see more tries in his future.
On the other edge, Ken was strong once again, he got the Warriors out of trouble with several of his trademark barnstorming runs.
Ken continues to go from strength to strength and has definitely put his hand up as one of the Warriors best performers in 2019.
Lastly, I think the front row had a good night more specifically Bunty Afoa and Karl Lawton. Afoa ran for well over 150metres and offered as much impact on his last hit up as he did on his first. The Warriors could do with at least one more player in Bunty's mould to try and get an advantage up front.
Karl Lawton had a strong game but for some reason was not used for an extended period, if Roache had not got injured Lawton probably would not have got back on the park which would have been a mistake.
Lawton is lethal sniping out of dummy half and is always ready to capitalise on slow markers and im glad that he has been re-signed as he has potential in spades.
Unfortunately, there were quite a few negatives to go over so I will just get into it.
Although the Warriors finally got away from the one out running that has plagued them this season, but unfortunately, the Warriors still lacked good 5th tackle options.
Blake Greens kicking game is not going to make the Warriors a force and Kodi Nikorima barely has a kicking game at all.
If the Warriors want to crawl out of the hole they have got themselves in they need to sort out their last tackle options, even if they just started kicking towards Fusitu'a in the corner, just try something as running on the last almost every time isn't working.
The Warriors defence was dreadful, the missed tackle that lead to Brent Naden's 85metre try was a coach killer, but the Warriors were constantly guilty of not wrapping the Panthers up and were punished with plenty of offloads.
Improve that defensive effort and victories become that much easier to obtain.
The lack of a killer instinct was disheartening, playing 20 minutes of the match with more players on the park should have guaranteed victory for the Warriors, but they only score two tries on that time.
They were well ahead on the penalty count too and should have taken advantage and piled on all the points they could.
My last negative is Nathaniel Roache's injury, as of writing the results of his scan haven't been announced but it looks like an ACL injury.
I feel for Roache as he is a hell of a talent, but his body continues to let him down, as hard as it may be for him he may need to look at new career options as his body just does not appear to want to let him play first grade.
I mean no disrespect to Roache, and I hope this injury isn't significant and he can get himself healthy and playing first grade consistently.
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Bunty was a standout in the pack in this match, running with purpose and was head and shoulders above his fellow front rowers.
Being a front rower is often a thankless job, and you take a beating and Bunty can undoubtedly take a licking and continued charging forward and was rewarded with a try.
I fully expect him to continue his rampaging ways as the 2019 season continues.
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Herbert has had an excellent start to his Warriors career, but this was undoubtedly a low-point for the young centre.
His defence was left wanting, and that missed tackle on Naden will define his performance in this match.
His goal kicking was also uncharacteristically poor missing two of his three attempts.
Herbert is a great talent, and he will bounce back from this performance and be all the better for it.
Round 16 sees the Warriors head across the ditch to face the Newcastle Knights.
The Knights were strong in their match against the Broncos and are going to be tough.
Issac Luke and Lachlan Burr should return to the side for this match, and the Warriors will need to be at their best if they want to walk away with the much needed two points.
Unfortunately, I don't see it happening, I think the Knights are going to be too good here and will defeat the Warriors by 12.
So that was a disappointing round 15, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
Who was your player of the day?
How would you improve the game day 17?
Who would be your starting lock, Jazz or Lachlan?
What is your score prediction for Round 16?
We've said it all over the last 15 weeks haven't we? You take an average team with a few above average players and a few below average players and it all averages out to average performances and an average season.
ReplyDeleteSadly, there is no real pain in saying the season is finished because we have said it so many times before. One day, we will feel entitled to expect better and maybe we will receive it.
Can't comment on player of the day as I was at work for most of the game, but does it even matter any more?
I don't know if the game day 17 can be improved much. The players who aren't playing are probably at a similar level to those who are playing. I don't think consistent, significant change can be achieved with the players that we have available. UNLESS...something changes upstairs and maybe I mean upstairs at the club as well as upstairs mentally. It is getting to the point where it might be time to give a few peripheral players a chance but this won't happen as it is like admitting the season is over.
I agree with everything you say about Tevaga, far better in a cameo role. I think that I like Burr but not totally convinced yet.
Once again, I forsee a Warriors victory by 6 points.
It has really all been said so far this season, makes it hard to try and not copy and paste from the week before but I think that highlights a huge problem with the side right now, Nothing is changing, be it down to the coaching stuff not wanting to (or not having the ability to) change, or the current crop of talent not being up to the task.
ReplyDeleteSeason is over, I listened to the press conference and SK was upset when asked if it was now time to start preparing for 2020 but I think it is a valid question, the majority of the remaining Warriors matches are against top 8 teams and I don't see them coming away with many more wins.
Yes I don't think there is much you can do to the 17, I still think I would bring Chanel in to partner Kodi now so they form a partnership early so they can hit the ground running next year.
I love Jazz don't get me wrong, I did get a bit a flack for what I said about him this week but so far in his career he has had the best impact from the bench and when tired he makes silly errors which kill you as a fan (not the only player to do it but it's visible that it only happens with him when he tired).
I'm a big Burr fan right now, for what I assume he is on he has been value, with a relatively small pack he adds size but still has a lot of improvement in him.
I like your confidence and I hope your right with the Warriors win.