The NRL is back, and despite cancellation fears, the Warriors made the way to McDonald Jones Stadium to face the Newcastle Knights.
Widely written off as playoff contenders, the Warriors needed to deliver a strong performance to prove the doubters wrong, but the 20-0 defeat left plenty for the Warriors fans to worry about.
Widely written off as playoff contenders, the Warriors needed to deliver a strong performance to prove the doubters wrong, but the 20-0 defeat left plenty for the Warriors fans to worry about.
I have been writing these reviews regularly for the past four years, and I don't recall the last time I felt this demotivated to write a review, so this may not be a long one.
What a disappointing performance from the Warriors, despite the poor preseason I still expected more from the side, but they barely fired a shot.
The Knights were not amazing by any means, but Warriors gifted them far too many opportunities while also not being able to create any scoring chances for themselves.
Work needs to be done by the coaching staff and the team alike if they are to have any chance to turn the season around. That is if the season actually continues for much longer but more on that later.
It wasn't all doom and gloom, which leads me to my positives from the match.
I don't have really have any, to be honest, in fact, I only have one. The debutants out in strong performances, in particular Eliesa Katoa and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown.
Both players took their chance with both hands and did themselves proud. The senior members of the squad need to take a page out of the youngster's book if the Warriors want to get some points on the board.
That was all I could really highlight as positive this week as there was a lot more to be concerned about, which leads me to my negatives.
Penalties, penalties, penalties! The Warriors conceded 13 penalties by the time the final whistle blew and over half of them were easily avoidable.
The Warriors had the same issue in 2019, and if they don't bring some discipline into their game, then you can expect plenty more losses in the foreseeable future.
The forward pack was mostly terrible with the majority of the pack barely making a dent in the Knights defensive line and making poor defensive reads. League is a simple game, and your success is built on the foundation that your forward pack sets and the current crop are not getting it done.
I would be moving the pack around, get Adam Blair into the front row, Tohu Harris and Katoa into the second row and drop Isaiah Papali'i. Kearney was hesitant to make changes last season, but with his job, on the line, he needs to make the big calls with his gameday squad selections.
The Warriors attack was almost no existent. Despite word out of the preseason that the Warriors were going to be more adventurous with the ball in hand, the fans got to watch the same predictable style of play from 2019. Grubbers towards the goalposts are not the only option, take advantage of the new rules and kick to the corners, just try something new.
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Katoa showed promise in his outings in the trials, but I wasn't convinced he would be able to replicate that form into the regular season, so I didn't pick him in my gameday 17, but I was happy to be proven wrong.
He ran the ball hard and had the most metres of any Warriors forward with 144, had 2 offloads and 19 tackles with only one missed tackle, not a bad effort from the youngster.
If the rest of the forward pack could match his heart and passion, then the Warriors forward pack could really turn a corner.
He has more than earned his spot in the squad and should be in talks to become a first-grade regular.
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Blake, thank you for your service, but it is time to call it a day.
Having Green out on the paddock is proving to be more of a hindrance than it is worth.
He did manage a 40/20, but besides that, the experienced half offered very little and continued to make schoolboy errors and poor attacking options.
If Green continues to be tasked with steering the ship, then the Warriors will continue to sink, bring in Kodi Nikorima or Adam Keighran into the halves and let them build a partnership for the future with Chanel Harris-Tavita.
Round 2 was meant to see the Warriors host the Canberra Raiders at Eden Park, however with the Coronavirus restricting travel, the Warriors have relocated to the Gold Coast and will be playing there.
The Raiders looked strong in there Round 1 win and are going to be a tremendous challenge for the Warriors who will have some personnel changes after Patrick Herbert and Peta Hiku elected to return home.
I think the Raiders are going to be too strong for the Warriors and I'm predicting the Raiders to win by 16.
Since I started writing, I have never encountered anything like what is currently happening with the Coronavirus. It is crazy, and sports competitions around the world have already gone on hiatus until further notice.
The NRL has elected to push forward with Round 2, but we have no clue if Round 3 will continue as planned or if the season will go on hold.
If the season goes on the Warriors will have to stay in Australia long term, and I just don't see that working out, one positive is that this situation could unify the squad and perhaps lead to better performances.
However, being away from their families for however long could have a detrimental effect on the players too, as well as if the Warriors injury form continues they would be unable to send any more players over to fill in.
Cameron George has spoken about the potential that the Warriors may not get to play on home soil this season which would be devastating for the club and fans alike, but everyone just has to wait and see what unfolds in the upcoming days/weeks.
Personally, I think the NRL will cease the competition before we get to round 4 but time will tell.
So that was a disappointing Round 1, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
Do you have any positives from this match?
What changes would you make to the squad?
How long do you think the season will continue before the NRL is forced to put the season or hold or cancel altogether?
What is your score prediction against the Raiders?
What changes would you make to the squad?
How long do you think the season will continue before the NRL is forced to put the season or hold or cancel altogether?
What is your score prediction against the Raiders?
yep on the positive side.... its a step closer to Kearney getting the arse...he,s no premier coach that,s another positive in my book
ReplyDeleteLike you, my only positive is the young fellas. Katoa in particular really put his hand up. Blairs defence was a bit sloppy but his work rate was a big improvement on last year. If he can average more than 100m per game I will be pretty happy.
ReplyDeleteI would give my prefered 17 but that is near impossible without knowing exactly who is in Oz. I'm assuminig Paasi didn't go over?? Based on who I know is there, I would put Lawton in for Egan (he has way more go forward), Kodi in for Green, use Egan as our utility, shift Blair to 13, Pulu (if he is available) in to second row and have Papali'i playing off the bench with JTB and Katoa.
Todd Greenburg and the NRL have been exploring multiple scenarios to keep the season going, including isolating a possible 2 teams if a player were to test positive. I think it is admirable that they want to keep the season going for the continued life of the NRL. However, I could imagine if a player were to test positive, there would be immense pressure from the Australian Government to shut the season down.
Given the circumstances I can't see us having a shit show of winning. Losing Hiku and Herbert is a massive blow, and the mind-set of the players can't be the best. I wouldn't be surprised if we have another 20 point loss. Having said that, I really hope that the fans actually cut the team some slack. They are looking at an extended period of time away from their family and loved ones and are making an immense sacrifice to enable the NRL to keep functioning and to allow the fans to carry on enjoying the game that we all love. We are at a major disadvantage compared to any other team in the comp right now. Full respect and support to the boys!!!
Katoa is set to be a first grade regular for many years to come hopefully. Blair getting triple digits was good to see, if he can keep that up while reducing his penalties and missed tackles I won't complain.
DeleteI know 24 players are over there but who they are I don't know but yes with what they have your changes sound like the way to go.
I know they want to push on with the season but I don't see it going much longer than a few rounds, the odds of a player catching it eventually and they will have to shut it down.