Confidence was high that the New Zealand side had turned a corner after a poor start to the season with a near-perfect completion rate in round 3, but it wasn't to be as the Panthers defeated the Warriors with ease, handing them their 2nd scoreless loss of the season 26-0.
I will be honest, this was an unexpected performance, although the loss wasn't that much of a surprise it was the way the Warriors lost that caught me off-guard.
After a step forward last week, the Warriors have stepped backwards all the back to how they were performing pre-lockdown.
This was the biggest worry for me, are the Warriors still the same struggling team we saw in the first two rounds that defeated a Dragons team that is even poorer than I initially thought?
I'm hopeful that this isn't the case and with the return of Agnatius Paasi, Ken Maumalo, Peta Hiku and David Fusitu'a that the Warriors will become a better outfit for the remainder of the season.
Unlike last week, there wasn't much to praise, but I did have a few highlights which leads me to my positives from the match.
Loan player Poasa Faamausili showed some promise in his debut for the club, he only had a limited stint, but he was aggressive with his ball running, averaging over 10 metres a carry.
He bent the line at will and really helped the Warriors march up the field.
I also thought Hayze Perham had a solid game as a last-minute call up into the centres, he was reliable on defence and offered some spark on attack. It will be interesting to see what role Perham will play within the side when the injured backs return.
My last positive was the young forwards continuing to step up, they did not dominate the ruck like they did last week, but still showed heart and were getting the Warriors up the field.
Unfortunately, once the forwards had done their part, the halves failed to take advantage but more on that below.
There was plenty to be concerned with, however, which leads me to my negatives from the game.
After making minimal errors last week, the Warriors let themselves down with 14 errors, on top of that the Warriors were penalised 7 times.
With the faster gameplay style, you mustn't give the opposition any piggybacks up the field, and every error or penalty is just another scoring opportunity given away.
The Warriors defence also had some issues, they missed 26 tackles but what was more concerning was the Warriors inability to wrap that Panthers ball runners up which leads to 18 offloads.
If it was just Viliame Kikau getting away with the offloads, I might have given it a pass, but the Panthers had 9 separate players with at least one offload each.
Wrapping the ball carriers arms up is an absolute must if the Warriors are to become competitive.
Lastly and in my mind, the biggest concern is the Warriors last tackle options, as mentioned above the Warriors were able to get themselves into the Panthers red zone. However, once the Warriors got there, they appeared to be out of ideas, which lead to much frustration while watching from home.
The Warriors kicking game offered no threat, The halves just don't appear to be on the same page and this, in turn, makes the backline appear disorganised.
I think the Stephen Kearney needs to make some adjustments to the Warriors spine immediately to reignite their lacklustre attack.
There is plenty to work on or the New Zealand side, but with some positional changes and attitude adjustments, the Warriors may be able to get themselves into the winners circle sooner rather than later.
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| Copyright Photo: Warriors.kiwi |
My Warrior of the match once again goes to Tohu Harris.
Tohu had another monster night with 224 running metres and 56 tackles. Harris is definitely flourishing now that he is 100% fit and I hope that he can continue performing at this level with it rubbing off on the other players in the squad.
If a few more of the players can come up to his level, then the Warriors will automatically become a much better side.
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| Copyright Photo: Stuff.co.nz |
My Warrior to improve goes to Blake Green.
In both my season preview and season restart piece, I had not selected Green in my gameday 17, and so far this season I have not seen anything to convince me that he deserves the number 7 jersey.
He is too predictable, and the Warriors are suffering as a result.
Green and Kodi Nikorima are not clicking, and I still would like to see how Nikorima and Chanel Harris-Tavita would go together.
Green still has plenty to offer; however, I believe it is from the teacher side of things, passing on his extensive knowledge to the younger halves.
But the Warriors need to find their spark, and that won't happen while Green is directing the side's attack.
Round 5 sees the Warriors back at Central Coast Stadium hosting the North Queensland Cowboys.
The Cowboys also suffered a loss in Round 4 going down 26-16 to the Sharks but will be most likely welcoming back Jason Taumalolo and Coen Hess to the gameday 17.
Unless the Warriors make some changes fast I don't see them having a great night.
They will need to shut Taumalolo down as best as they can. Eliminate the Cowboys second phase and then throw some caution in the wind while on attack.
One out running and throwing up a bomb or grubber on the last is not going to strike fear into the Cowboys defence.
The Warriors should hopefully see the return of Maumalo and Hiku which will help strengthen the Warriors left edge attack and should direct some kicks that way.
I don't see the Warriors fortunes improving here, unfortunately, and I'm predicting the Cowboys winning here by 16.
Lastly, I was invited to co-host a rugby league show on New Zealand Sport Radio, and we had our first show last week. I thought it was a great first hit out and look forward to seeing the show grow.
It airs live on Facebook every Wednesday at 8pm.
The name of the show is currently pending (any suggestions would be much appreciated) but if you would like to show some support go like the Facebook page (click the below link) and tune in to the show every Wednesday.
So that was a poor Round 4, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
How do the Warriors get their attack on track?
How do the Warriors get their attack on track?
What did you think of loan player Poasa Faamausili's debut?
Who was your player of the match?
What is your score prediction for the Cowboys clash?
Who was your player of the match?
What is your score prediction for the Cowboys clash?
Only way we can get our attack on track is to get more attacking players in the team. I would put Wade Egan in the same box as Blake Green. They just aren't attacking weapons. Bring in CHT and Lawton in to the starting 13. Hopefully we have Hiku and Fus back to replace Pompey and Perham. I have defended Kearney's decision to bring Fus in to the centres, but after seeing Herbert drop the pill a few times on Friday, we definitely need Fus back under the high ball. I would put Perham on the bench too. He has a lot of talent which just will not develop unless he gets more time on the field. I actually thought Vuniyayawa would be the less effective of our fringe forwards but I think he played better than Murchie. I would have a Perham, Paasi, Faamausili, Vuniyayawa bench.
ReplyDeletePlayer of the match has to be Tohu.
If we make the right changes then we should go alright on the weekend. If we only slot Fus and Hiku back on to the edge, then I don't see too much changing. In saying that, I will be watching no matter what, wearing my Jersey with pride. Bring on Friday!!!
On another note, I actually thought the intensity of the first 30 minutes or so was really good. I'm pretty sure the commentators even said that they had 20 complete sets before making their first handling error. Our first 2 tries were not the result of a rubbish team, more 2 individual mistakes. It just fell apart pretty badly from there.
DeleteIt definitely felt we went right back to form of the first couple of rounds, even more so looking at how poor the Dragons were again this week. So many errors and penalties ruining anything we looked like creating.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to convince myself that things should improve when some of our injured players return, but then I remember; we have lacked attacking threats since last season. We just do not pose any real concerns for any half decent teams. We seem so easily repelled. It was a disappointing watch and hard to see why this won't continue to be a trend.
Looking at your questions, I am sure we were asking ourselves just about every week last year about how to improve our attack and honestly, who knows?
Faamausili looked solid and he should be an asset, hopefully a major one!
While hard to give him my player of the match, the player I simply must see more of is Hayze Perham. Like you, I thought he showed encouraging signs on attack and defence. To me he looks like a player who has energy, a point to prove and looks keen to impress. He needs more game time and I think he wants some responsibility too. Could be a future leader if we hold on to him.
In the past I have always picked Warriors victories but that is getting harder all the time so this week, Warriors by 4.
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ReplyDelete