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A win here would have kept the Warriors playoff dreams alive, but it wasn't to be as the Eels were victorious here in a match that will, unfortunately, be remembered more for the officiating than the entertaining display that both sides delivered.
What a disappointing game.
On the plus side, it was exciting to watch and felt like it had all the stakes of a playoff match. On the negative side, some of the calls were head-scratching, to say the least.
I don't like talking about referees or their performances. Regardless of how poor they are, you should not leave your fate in their hands (although there will be some more on the officials further below).
I thought the Warriors played well for most of the game, but there were still issues.
The Warriors started 2019, putting it bluntly as a soft team. Opposition teams only had to play 60 minutes, and the Warriors would fold towards the end, however, for the past 6 weeks, the Warriors have shown tremendous heart.
Teams, unfortunately, can still defeat the Warriors but man they have to work for it.
The Match wasn't all doom and gloom though which leads me to my positives from the match.
The back three shone in this performance with all three running over 100 metres.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck lead from the front with 267 metres and Ken Maumalo wasn't far behind with 243 metres.
Sheck is the heart of this team without a doubt when all seems lost, the Warriors can always rely on RTS to turn a half-chance into a scoring opportunity, the rest of the side just needs to move closer to his level.
The impact these two have had this season has been outstanding, and I expect them to finish 2019 strong, Maumalo is still on track to end the season as the leading try scorer if he can keep his strike rate up.
The forward's form continues to improve. Lead by Paasi and Ah Mau the forwards ran hard all night and helped the Warriors surge into the Eels half, they still need to improve their defence around the ruck area, but there's no question that they are improving.
After criticising the Warriors interchange rotation for the majority of the season, I think Kearney has finally got a good thing going.
The Forwards need to keep this level of performance going for the final six rounds if the Warriors are to sneak into the top eight.
Having a 9-2 penalty count piled against them, the Warriors should have not been in this match at all let alone in a position to win it, and that kind of effort gives me confidence that the Warriors can still have a final stab at the top eight.
There were issues, too; however, which leads me to my negatives.
The penalties need to come down, I know many will claim that some of the calls were incorrect, but there were several that were just poor discipline.
If the officials treat the Warriors differently as some fans claim then the Warriors need to ensure they keep their noses squeaky clean, give no reasons to be pinged and watch the penalty count drop.
The Warriors defence has improved, but two of the Eels tries were essentially length of the field tries due to poor defence.
Tightening up the ruck defence is the main priority for the New Zealand side but their second concern will be wrapping the ball carrier up to eliminate that second phase football that continues to hurt them.
With games against the Raiders, Sharks and Roosters coming up the Warriors defence needs to be ironclad.
My last negative is once again the Warriors 5th tackle options, the Warriors last tackle options leave a lot to be desired, but it showed some improvement with the addition of Chanel Harris-Tavita.
Blake Green was hit or miss for me in this match, making some great decisions but then also having some howlers.
However, if the forwards continue charging up the middle and the back three kept doing their thing, then the halves should have plenty of time and space to create scoring opportunities.
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With Kodi's injury last week, Chanel returned to the Warriors starting line up for the first time since round 8 and did not miss a step.
One of my biggest complaints for the past month has been the Warriors lack of 5th tackle options, and Chanel's presence helped in that department.
His kicking game added dimension to the Warriors attack and his defensive effort was outstanding, after this display you cannot leave Chanel out of the Warriors 17, dare I say 13 for the rest of the season.
This kid is a talent and has shown that he is not overawed by the occasion when playing first grade and I think the Warriors need to start using Chanel and Kodi as their starting halves sooner rather than later.
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At Graham Annesley's press conference today, he acknowledged that there were two incorrect stripping calls, an incorrect bunker call for Sivos 2nd try, Papali'is missed knock-on which leads to Lukes try, and that Tuivasa-Shecks pass was too close to call.
This poor showing has resulted in both the refs and touch judges being relegated this week.
Personally, I felt the Warriors were hard done by in this match, but I watch all the games, and I think that the referees are poor the majority of the time and show no signs of improvement. Dropping these refs will not fix the issues, and the NRL need to look at how they can fix it.
I don't know what they can do either, perhaps move back to having one referee and maybe incorporating a Captains challenge similar to what they have in cricket. Give the Captain's one challenge a half, and if you use it and overturn the decision you keep the challenge, you get it wrong, you lose it.
I'm sure there are brighter minds than mine in the NRL that can bring solutions to the table to fix the officiating and let the football be the topic at the water coolers again instead of the men with the Whistles.
Round 20 has the Warriors finally return to Mount Smart, hosting the Canberra Raiders.
The Raiders have had a great year to date and will be a real challenge.
With Issac Luke most likely missing the next two weeks due to suspension, I personally would move Kodi Nikorima to hooker and keep Chanel partnered with Green in the halves.
I have gone a run picking against the Warriors for the past fortnight, but this week I'm picking the Warriors, the Warriors will be disappointed after Round 19 and will be looking at making a statement, so I'm picking the Warriors to win here by 8.
So that was my take on a heartbreaking round 19, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
If Issac Luke is out, who would be your hooker this week?
How can the NRL fix the Referee issues that have plagued the 2019 season?
Who was your player of the match?
What is your score prediction for Round 20?
You have pretty much said it all Brad. It was an exciting game to watch and the result was in doubt for the entire 80 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI found Kearney's press conference intriguing as he cut loose in his rather restrained way, and his "piss it off" line was classic; a bit of folklore for the future maybe. As we know, the post match talk has been all about the referees unfortunately. This has been happening since the beginning of sport on this planet, but what is not obvious to a lot of folk is that the Warriors seem to have been suffering from more inconsistent refereeing calls for a longer period of time, pretty much since we entered the competition. I remember some of the unbelievable calls that went against us in the late 90s and there was a particularly memorable game where Matthew Ridge pushed a referee. As far as this game goes, we try and be philosophical about it and give the refs a bit of empathy but there were a handful of now infamous calls that were just so frustratingly wrong. And most of us have probably forgotten about that call in the first half where RTS was called back with the field open ahead of him. Having said that, maybe we were lucky to be awarded Luke's try, so it can go both ways. As much as it hurts, We shouldn't get into constantly blaming refs though, and as Michael Ennis said, the Warriors need to be better than the officiating, all teams do.
Overall, I was really proud of the team, they have looked much better in the last few weeks and have shown some real determination and desperation to win which is what we have wanted to see. Defence though, as you said, continues to be fragile. Every team concedes points, but we do concede long range tries that shouldn't happen, often against the run of play.
It would be good to try Nikorima at hooker, but I don't know if they would put him there. He has been getting himself into games nicely of late so more time on the field is needed. And wasn't it interesting to see Keighran back on the paddock? He seemed solid but unspectacular in the minutes he was given.
I don't know how to fix refereeing, maybe you can't and that is just how sport is. Just play better. I suppose some rule changes might help the refs out a bit by making things simpler or easier to call.
My player of the match was probably Harris-Tevita as well. He looked confident and keen, like he wanted to take responsibility and lead the team. He needs to be given as many minutes as possible. Good signs for the future.
I am going to the game this weekend, so I expect to see a determined effort from our lads against a pretty strong Raiders side. Warriors win by 2.
I think the refs have been shocking all year for most teams and the Warriors have been on the short end of the stick more often or not, but yes you need to be better that the officiating. The Warriors let in two eels tries that were almost length of the field which the Refs cannot be blamed for.
ReplyDeleteRTS being pulled back in the moment in the first half was frustrating.
In regards to Kearney speaking up, I think he needs to do it more, coached like Toovey, Hasler, Stuart and Bellamy are not shy when calling out the refs and in turn 50/50 calls tend to go in their favour.
The team has started to show heart and they are no longer easy beats which is good, I feel the top eight is out of reach with the games they have left but if they can keep being competitive for the end of the season hopefully that hard edge they have developed flows into next season.
I think they may move Kodi to hooker but only due to Luke being out and Lawton and Roache injured. But then they may move Jazz there and Chanel back to the bench.
Ak played well for the short spell he had.
Yes I think the refs are also going to have issues and there isn't too much I see being done that will improve them performance.
Chanel was outstanding, it appeared that he was directing the play as opposed to Blake Green and I am excited to see how a Kodi Chanel partnership will fare.
It should be a good game and the Warriors will be desperate to get the win here, playing the Raiders twice in the final 6 rounds is going to be tough but the Warriors will win here and lose over in Canberra.