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The Sea Eagles made the trip to New Zealand buoyed by a three matching winning streak and looked sure to add to the Warriors woes, but it wasn't to be as the Warriors broke their Mount Smart losing streak with a 24-16 victory.
Well, what the difference a week makes. After last weeks match, I was lost for words and bracing for another heavy defeat, but the Warriors turned up this week and made sitting in the rain worth it.
It wasn't a perfect performance by any stretch, but the heart that was missing in round 20 appeared to be beating again.
Many dominated the majority of the stats but were unable to convert their opportunities into points, and the Warriors turned almost every post a winner whenever they got themselves into Manly's half.
I think the Warriors were hard done by with Adam Blairs sin-binning. I was happy with the penalty being called as Blair did stop running, but I don't believe it was deserving of the Warriors being a man down for ten minutes.
I think Manly turned up already thinking the match had been won and the Warriors punished them for it. I think the fact that Manly couldn't score any points until the Warriors were a man down speaks volumes for the improvement of the Warriors defence which leads me into my positives from the match.
The attitude returned this week, I have no idea why the Warriors attitude was down last week, and I can't explain why it came back, Im just happy it did.
I still feel like finals football is not in the Warriors future this season, but with one of the hardest runs home, the Warriors need to ensure that their attitude stays at the level consistently for the final four games.
If they can do that, who knows what could happen.
The forwards showed some improvement this week and made more metres but still need to up their involvement so the Warriors backs can be used more for finishing sets off instead off being relied on to get all the Warriors metres. Leeson Ah Mau, Lachlan Burr and Ligi Sao were my standouts all running over 100 metres with Paasi and Afoa not far behind.
If they can get 6 or 7 of the pack running near 100 metres, the Warriors will find themselves in the contest regardless of who they are facing.
The Warriors showed some life on attack this week, there was less one out running, and they appeared willing to try things, my player of the day was a significant impact on that but more on him later.
Tuivasa-Shecks throw the legs pass to set up Sao's try was a great piece of the razzle-dazzle that Warriors fans love, but the Warriors showed class with Ken Maumalos tries, one via a nice chip kick early in the tackle count and the second through the hands highlighting the skill and accuracy that they can possess. More of that will keep the fans happy.
Lastly was the defensive improvement, as mentioned above the Sea Eagles could not crack the Warriors try line until the Warriors lost Adam Blair.
They still missed too many tackles for my liking but they wrapped the ball carrier up, and this was the difference compared to last week, Manly were unable to get those offloads out to unleash Tom Trbojevich, without this facet of their game the Sea Eagles started to panic and make uncharacteristic errors which ultimately lead to their downfall.
Defensive pressure is key, and the Warriors will need to ensure they keep it up.
I did have issues with the match; however, which leads me to my negatives from the game.
It didn't cost them in the end, but the Warriors gave away far too many penalties. With the Warriors defence holding Manly out, the impact these penalties had on the game wasn't too great, but if the match was closer in the first half then perhaps Manly would have elected to take the easy points and slowly starve the Warriors of possession, thankfully that didn't happen this week, but it could be an issue next week.
The ten minutes, while Adam Blair was off, was perhaps my most significant negative.
Once Blair was off it felt like the Warriors dropped their heads and allowed Manly to attack at will, scoring 16 points almost without breaking a sweat.
Despite being a man down the Warriors needed to keep trying to win the match instead of focusing on holding onto a lead. Every time the Warriors have tried that approach they have been found out, but thankfully Jazz got a try to lock in the win, but it was close to being another heart breaker at Mount Smart.
My last negative is Sam Lisone, or rather, why did Kearney not use him.
I have been critical of the use of the interchange for much of Kearneys time as coach of the Warriors, and this game was no different.
Perhaps Kearney was happy with the forward's performance and did not want to make any changes that could disrupt it.
Personally, I enjoy the energy Lisone provides, and when the large Sea Eagles pack started to tire, I would have thrown him out there to take advantage.
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The young gun continues to go from strength to strength, and the sky appears to be the limit when it comes to the talent he possesses.
The vision he showed when he kicked early in the tackle count for Maumalos try was excellent and showed that despite his young age, he is not scared to try things.
I can't leave without mentioning his defence, Chanel shows no fear and puts his body on the line, and what he lacks in size he makes up with aggression.
He is a star and needs to start in the halves from now on.
I couldn't pick a player to improve this week.
The 16 players that actually played were all solid for the most part, and I'm hopeful that they will build on this performance for what will be a tough encounter in Sydney.
Round 22 has the Warriors travelling back across the ditch to face the second-placed Sydney Roosters.
This will be a tough match as the Roosters are one of the best teams in the competition right now.
The Warriors will need to play at their best here if they want to walk away with another win.
I would have Kodi playing hooker this week, and he could quickly turn the match in the Warriors favour with his speed out of the ruck.
Kodi linking with Chanel, Hiku and Maumalo just screams points.
Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. I think the Warriors will stay in the fight this week but will ultimately not have enough to overcome the odds, so I'm picking the Roosters to win by 12.
So that was my take on a improves Round 21 and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
The elephant in the room, Blair sin-bin fair call or off the mark?
Do you have any player to improve?
What would you do with Kodi on his probable return this week?
What is your score prediction for the Round 22 match against the Sydney Roosters?
Well well, one of the few times my prediction came true; a Warriors win by eight points. It was an interesting game, everybody played pretty well and our defence was strong for most of the game. Papali'i even looked solid for a change and Tevaga looked determined to prove a point.
ReplyDeleteWe don't score a lot of points these days so our defence won us the game really. It was great that it took until the 68th minute for Manly to score which is pretty amazing when you think about it. What wasn't so great was how quickly and easily they then caught up and threatened to steal the game. Imagine if we had lost after leading 18-0 with 12 minutes to go!
Even with a man down you still should not concede that many points so meekly which is a concern.
The sin-bin of Blair did seem a bit harsh, especially when you consider what gets let go these day or put on report instead. What he did (or didn't do) hardly seemed worthy of a sin-bin but maybe by the definition of the rule they were right?
There is always someone to improve, but this week, I suggest the whole team improve their ability to play and defend like this for more than just one game at a time. Be a team, and play like one. And keep doing it.
There seems to be a lot of talk about Nikorima being put in at hooker, and I say, why not? He has the skills for that role and players are always saying that they will play where the coach puts them and that they just want to be on the filed helping the team out and it just seems an ideal solution.
We all know the Roosters are good and will be hard to beat. The lowly Cowboys beat them in Sydney recently though so it can definitely happen. A two point win to the Warriors is the obvious result.
Congrats on predicted the outcome, not many others can make the same claim. It may have been Papali'i's best game of the year and Jazz was strong once again.
ReplyDeleteYes the Warriors don't seem to like going above 18 points much this season but the defence was the standout and what they need to rely on if they want to get some more wins this season.
It certainly looked like Manly were surging back to win from behind, thankfully that wasn't the case but I think the Warriors may have panicked when Blair was sent off.
I was happy with a Blair penalty but think the Sin-Bin was too much.
Kodi at Hooker would plug a gap that the Warriors have right now so I would do it, I know he doesn't want to be a hooker and I can't speak on his behalf but I would rather be a hooker in a team that has the ability to win than be a half in team that struggles to compete.
Roosters have been on a roll since that Cowboys game and will be tough but I hope your prediction is on point once again.