NZ Warriors 2019 Season Review: A giant step backwards for Warriors

Copyright Photo: Getty Images

With the 2019 NRL Grand Final so close I decided it was the perfect time to comb through the Warriors year and conduct my season review.
Warriors fans were hoping to see the New Zealand side build on 2019's top eight finish with another top-eight finish, but it wasn't to be as the Warriors slumped to 13th on the ladder in a season to forget.
2019 was filled to the brim with talking points, so let's just get into the review.

My take on 2019

Despite the Warriors poor showing in their single playoff match in 2018, I came into 2019 confident that the Warriors could have back to back years in the playoffs predicting a 7th place finish by the Round 25 and I was well and truly wrong with the Warriors ending the season 13th.

Looking back at my season preview, I highlighted the Warriors biggest strength being their back three and their biggest weakness being their defence and I was correct on both counts.

Questions loomed over how the Warriors would perform without Simon Mannering and Shaun Johnson. It's fair to say they missed Mannering's experience and Johnson's game-breaking ability throughout the season and the club still has a lot of work to do to fill the void left by both players.
The Warriors started the season on a high with an empathic 40-6 victory over the Bulldogs, and it looked like the fans were going to be in for a good year. Still, those hopes came crashing down with back to back heavy defeats to the Tigers and Sea Eagles, after this the Warriors had several close encounters but struggled to get across the line, only managing 6 wins and a draw in the next 16 matches.
Despite not securing many victories, the Warriors remained in the playoff hunt, but that was torn to shreds with heavy defeats to the Raiders, Roosters, Sharks and Rabbitohs.
The Warriors did manage a victory over the Raiders in the final round to end the season on a slightly happy note. Still, ultimately 2019 was a huge step backwards with more questions than answers as the club looks to get themselves back on track for 2020.

My Positives for 2019

There wasn't much to praise in 2019, but I have selected my top three positives for 2019.

Ken and RTS Show

After his Dally M winning year, it was hard to imagine Roger Tuivasa-Sheck getting better, but he legitimately performed better in 2019 many times carrying the side on his shoulders.

If the Warriors want to keep RTS past his current contract, then they will need to get the rest of the team to help him carry the load.

One other player that can put his hand up is Ken Maumalo, after spending the majority of his career as a glorified battering ram, big Ken had a breakout year, dominating many attacking stats and finishing third on the try-scorers ladder.

It's no coincidence that Peta Hiku moving to his side of the field increased the big winners try tally, but the pressure will be on him to replicate his form next year.

The emergence of Rookies/new signings

2019 was a season to forget, but some of the rookies and new signings did impress me.

The spotlight needs to be one Chanel Harris-Tavita who showed he has all the potential to be a bonafide superstar.

Leeson Ah Mau brought much-needed size to the pack but has plenty of room for improvement, but the signing I was impressed with was Lachlan Burr, for his size he is incredibly mobile and was one of the few Warriors players that were willing to offload the ball.

With no news of any new front-rowers being signed, I would be moving Burr into the prop rotation because his size is needed upfront as opposed to the edges.

Second Phase Delivers

The Warriors didn't do it often, but when they started to offload and utilise second phase football, they showed how difficult they are to stop.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's try in the last round highlighted this when they threw the ball around on the last tackle for at least 14 passes.

I have said it before, and I will say it now, the Warriors are at their best when they play off the cuff football. Now it may be heartstopping to witness, but if the Warriors want to return to playoff football, then they need to play to their strengths.

My Negatives for 2019

Unfortunately, there were more negatives, but I have narrowed it down to my 4 most significant negatives.

Lack of Sting

Last year I praised the Warriors for showing more intent on attack, but in 2019 the Warriors appeared to lose sight of that.
They reverted back to one out running and appeared lost on their last tackle options, a big part of this can be directed to the forward's lack of punch.
Blake Green and Kodi Nikorima never seemed to click together in the halves, and neither appeared to want to take control of the side's attack.
The Warriors attack had more direction with Chanel in the halves, so he needs to be starting in the halves next season.

Missed tackles

Missed tackles were another blight on the Warriors season with 7 of their players being in the top 50 by the end of Round 25.
Much like 2018, the Warriors goal-line defence was good, but the Warriors defence around the ruck area was a major letdown, if a team took advantage of the Warriors slow markers then the battle was already won.
I just can't put my finger on it, was it a lack of fitness or a poor attitude that lead to this weakness but it is yet another problem that needs to be addressed before next February.

Home Record

Last season I praised the Warriors away record but this year was one of the worst for the local crowd in Auckland with the Warriors managing only three victories at Mount Smart out of a possible ten.

The NRL is a fierce competition but to be successful, you must win the majority of your home matches, a 30% success rate at your home ground is shocking and simply not good enough if you want to win a premiership.

The Warriors are a long way off that goal right now, and they can add making Mount Smart a fortress to their to-do list.

Interchange/Bench Selection

I could keep going, but my last negative is the Interchange, or more specifically, Stephen Kearney's use of it.

I am unsure of his mindset, but there were several occasions where the Warrior had two or three small players on the bench with one player only getting a handful of minutes at the end of the match as an afterthought.

It may be an old school way of thinking, but a bench of three forwards and a utility/hooker is the way to go.

Nowadays your second rowers have the skill set to move into the centres if an injury forces a backline shuffle, but you need to have some big bodies there to keep your front-rowers fresh and going 100% for the entire game.

Fix the rotation, and the Warriors performances will improve.

My top three Warriors for the season

2019 wasn't fantastic, but three players can end the season with their heads held high.

Ken Maumalo

Copyright Photo: Photosport

What a year 2019 was for Ken Maumalo, leading the Warriors in points, tries, linebreaks and competing with RTS in runs and running metres. 

As mentioned above, having a centre that is willing to give him the ball definitely helped his scoring tally reach an all-time high. Still, it did not prevent him from getting the Warriors rolling with his thunderous runs from deep within the Warriors half.

Winning the Dally M winger of the year award is a fantastic way for Ken to end his 2019 NRL season and I'm hopeful that he will continue to grow as a football player in 2020.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

The Captain had another season to remember and was always head and shoulders above the majority of his teammates.

His contribution on attack was sorely needed in a team lacking sting, and his defence kept the Warriors in the fight multiple time.
My biggest concern is that the Warriors are going to rely on RTS too much and break him or even worse see him leave at the end of his contract to go back across the ditch to join a team willing to give him the support he needs.
Recruiting players of value has never been easy for the Warriors, but they need to find players that are willing to share the load or watch him walk away, whether it be from their own backyard, Australia or the UK.

Chanel Harris-Tavita

Chanel Harris-Tavita is still young and raw, but man he is a talent.

In my preview, I selected Adam Keighran has Blake Green's halves partner as I felt that Chanel needed more time to grow and develop. While I think the AK project was pulled prematurely, Chanel delivered excellent performances and was in my eyes the Warriors best performing half in 2019.

He showed composure on the last tackle and made some smart choices with the ball in hand, and his defence was highlight-reel worthy with many of his big shots sure to be used in commercials for the New Zealand side.

The Warriors will need to have Chanel and Kodi Nikorima together in the halves in 2020 if they want to have a shot at the top eight.

My Three Warriors who need to improve

Unfortunately, many players have room for improvement, but to keep it equal, I will narrow it down to three.

Blake Green

Copyright Photo: Getty Images

Blake Green, like many, had a year to forget in 2019.

With the exit of Johnson, the pressure was on Green to lead this side around the park, and ultimately he failed.

Sure he had some good moments, slotting the field goal against the Sharks in Wellington being the first that comes to my mind but his decision making on the fifth tackle was lacking and was inexcusable for a player of his experience.

I lost count of how many times Green ran the ball on the fourth tackle meaning he was taking himself out of the last tackle plays, was it a coincidence or was he looking to avoid making the last tackle decisions? I think only Green can answer that, but I think he needs to take a look in the mirror and make a decision on how he wants his career to end.

I would be dropping him for 2020, keep him within the club to pass on his knowledge to the young halves but keep him out of the game day 17.

Isaiah Papali'i

Isaiah had a stellar debut year but was hit by second-year syndrome this season.

His attack was riddled with errors, and his defence was not much better with many penalties and missed tackles littering his season stats.

I think Papali'i was forced into the Simon Mannering role of being a tackle machine for 80 minutes and it did him no favours. There will only ever be one Mannering and while Papali'i has plenty of potential, being pigeonholed into that kind of role will only limit Papali'i's career not enhance it.

On a positive note, Isaiah is still very young and will bounce back from this poor season, with veteran second rowers like Adam Blair and Tohu Harris to learn from, you can expect Papali'i to be a mainstay in this Warriors side for many seasons to come.

Adam Blair

Speaking of Blair, he is my final player to improve.

Adam Blair will always be a controversial player when it comes to discussions amongst fans, some praise his experience and ability to organise defensive lines while others point out the many penalties that he gives away while offering very little in attack.

I sit on the fence, I see the good and the bad with Blair and spent the majority of the season selecting him as my Warrior to improve.

But Blair did show some improvement as the season progressed delivering some strong performance towards the end, but was that improvement enough?

Blair is coming into the final year of his contract in 2020, and I'm hoping that he puts on a strong performance as he strives to earn himself a new contract.

I think the Warriors can use his money elsewhere and should not extend his stay, but if they can squeeze a great final year out of him, I would be happy. 

In Summary

Despite winning more matches this year than they did in 2017, I still feel that this was the worse season for a while.

Perhaps it was due to my belief that the Warriors had built a good foundation in 2018 that would see them make a decent dent in the playoffs, but they folded, leaving a bitter taste in many fans mouths.

I said it towards the end of the season, but something is broken within the club, I hope that the club having sole owners now will help settle the club and they can start making some changes that hopefully breeds success.

This season has been massive in regards to my writing, it's one thing to do this when the Warriors are playing well but writing weekly about a struggling team can really make it tough so thank you to everyone that has stuck with me this year I really appreciate it.

2020 I feel is going to be another tough one, and I feel that the Warriors won't see much improvement, but I do look forward to writing and talking to all of you about it again soo, I'm not sure how much Warriors writing will happen until my preseason review next year as I have my Sports Journalism course to complete, but ideally I would like to do some write-ups on the upcoming internationals.

So that was my take on 2019, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your thoughts on the 2019 season?
Who was your player of the year?
Which player was your biggest disappointment?
What realistic changes would you make for next season?
How do you see the 2020 season going?