After last weeks closer than expected win over the bottom-dwelling Bulldogs, the Warriors returned to where the NRL 2020 season version 2 all began as they hosted the Newcastle Knights at Scully Park in Tamworth. The Knights have got a lot of injuries to key players in their squad and facing the Warriors during their recent run of form was never going to end well for the Newcastle side as the Warriors ran away with their biggest win of 2020 36-6.
Well what a performance, I predicted a Warriors win here but not by 30 points. Even though the Warriors only lead 8-6 at halftime, they never looked in doubt and put on an attacking clinic in the second half, almost scoring at will and showing how dangerous they can be with the ball in hand.
This team is building something special here, and I think being in camp together all season has helped this side. Being away from NZ and family is hard on the everyone in camp, but I think it has made the Warriors a more formidable outfit. The young players in this side have grown so much, and this should be the start of some good times for the Warriors and the fans alike.
The Warriors form in the past 6 weeks has been great with narrow losses only against the Roosters and the Panthers.
This win keeps their slim playoff hopes alive, sitting in 9th position, 4 points behind the 8th placed Sharks. If they want to crack they eight they just need to keep winning, plus a win in round 18 against the Sharks would help the cause, not to mention the fact that the Sharks have not won a match this year against a top 8 side and face 3 teams in the top 8 in the final 4 weeks. So the Warriors have given themselves a shot they just need to keep the momentum going.
There was plenty to smile about this week, which leads to my positives from the game.
The Warriors attack was on point this week, 9 line breaks, 30 tackle breaks and 18 offloads. The Warriors have been getting the wins but not blowing anyone off the park so you kind of had a feeling that eventually everything would click and the points would start flowing, and it happened this round.
I think the best part of the performance was the fact that the Warriors kept their foot down and did not let up until the final whistle. It's that killer instinct that has been lacking for some time for the New Zealand club, and it is something that needs to become part of their DNA.
Despite playing a more expansive style, the Warriors kept their error rate in the single digits and ending the match with an 89% completion rate.
The Chanel Harris-Tavita and Kodi Nikorima halves pairing is continuing to impress me.
Nikorima has been playing some of his best-ever football the past few weeks and appears to be flourishing without Blake Green there.
Harris-Tavita is growing every week, and taking more control of the matches is starting to find his voice out there. Both players complement each other's style, and neither tries to overplay their hand and try to take over the match on their own.
If they continue to grow their combination and get some good ball from the pack, then I only see good things in their future.
Speaking of the pack, the forwards had another good night with 6 of the forwards running for over 100 metres, with last weeks Warrior to improve Lachlan Burr leading the pack with 188 metres.
I like how the forwards are all stepping up now, you usually could pick 2 or 3 of the pack that played well with the rest not really pulling their weight. They just need to keep turning up and focus on controlling the middle. This kind of result is what happens when the Warriors forwards bully their opposition. With good ball, Nikorima and Harris-Tavita have all the time in the world to unleash the backline and the Warriors backs =have attacking threats everywhere.
George Jennings has been fantastic not the wing and is sure to be earning himself a contract somewhere. I would be looking at him if I was the Warriors as they need some good stock in the Wings to keep Ken Maumalo and David Fusitu'a on their toes.
I don't have much, but the game wasn't perfect, which leads me to my negative from the match.
Yes, I only have one negative this week and its a regular in this section, and that's missed tackles.
The Warriors missed 20 tackles, which is still too much if they want to keep themselves in the playoff hunt.
They strangled the Knights out of this match and covered their first-up tackling with some good scrambling defence, but I just want to see them tighten up their defence in the middle and around the ruck, if they do that then they won't leak any soft tries and strengthen their chances of walking out victors.
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My Warrior of the week goes to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
What a day out for the Skipper, 269 metres, 2 line breaks and 2 tries. As the only kiwi player in camp without his family, there has been plenty of articles writing throughout the week about how tough it has been for Roger. He has said he thinks about coming home all the time, but he is toughing it out for the team and is truly showing his commitment.
For me, the most encouraging aspect of Tuivasa-Sheck's games recently has been watching him finally start to run off the shoulders of his big forwards, if they can offload the ball to him running that line, I find it hard for anyone to stop him breaking the game wide open.
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I have no Warrior to improve this week. I have watched the game several times, and I could pick out someone I was disappointed in. So instead, I would like to mention Chanel Harris-Tavita.
I mentioned above that Harris-Tavita is growing each week, he is the future of this club and it's his attitude that has impressed me the most this year.
Spending weeks on the sideline waiting for your chance to prove yourself can be challenging and several players have thrown their toys and demanded releases, but Harris-Tavita just continued to bide his time and make the most of his shot when he got it.
He does all the things you expect from a half, but I think his defence shows the heart he has, yes he can do the big hits but the amount of times he comes in to clean up some sloppy defence shows his character. Fingers crossed the Warriors can manage to keep him within the club longterm as I would love to see CHT become a one-club man.
Round 17 sees the Warriors return to the Central Coast to host the Parramatta Eels.
The Eels are hard to predict, they went from holding the Storm scoreless in round 15 to getting thumped 38-0 by the Rabbitohs. They currently sit 3rd on the ladder and are going to be a massive challenge for the Warriors. However, if the Warriors can continue to play like they have been for the past 6 weeks, then they may be able to get another win here.
Daniel Alvaro and George Jennings will not be playing in this match as per the loan agreement prohibiting them from playing against their own team, this is a massive loss for the Warriors, and I'm not sure who will fill their spots. Perhaps we will see Gerard Beale back on the wing and Joshua Curran onto the bench.
Unfortunately, I think the Eels will come away victors here, but it will be close, so I'm picking the Eels to win by 6. While also hoping the Warriors prove me wrong.
So that was an impressive Round 16, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
Do you see the Warriors making the top eight?
Who would you bring in to replace Jennings and Alvaro?
Who was your player of the day?
What is your score prediction for the Eels clash?
What a game. Definitely the best of the season and I felt like it was something that had been brewing for a while. we have been seeing glimpses of our attacking capabilities brewing for a few weeks now. On top of that the Warriors have really tightened up their defence. Who would have thought that The Warriors would turn in to a team that steps up in the second half. Looking at our second half stats from the last few weeks. 28-0 against the bulldogs, 14-4 against the Bulldogs, 6-2 against the Panthers, 6-12 against Manly and 18-6 against the Tigers. We have only conceded 4 tries in the second half in the last 5 games and 2 of those were to Manly. I really hope we keep building on this and carry it through to next season. You can see the confidence in the boys growing and I love seeing them enjoying themselves again.
ReplyDeleteDo I see them making the 8?????????? I'm still saying no. The is solely so that I don't get too dissapointed if it doesn't happen. Not only do we need to win our next 4 matches (which is possible with how the boys have been playing), but we need either the Sharks to lose 3 of their next 4 or the Knights or Rabbitohs to lose all of their remaining games. I just don't see it happening. Everyone keeps talking about how we are only 4 points behind 8th but we need 6 to overtake them.
Obviously the teams have been announced, but my picks before seeing the list was Papali'i on to the bench and Adam Keighran in to centre with Perham shifting to the wing. Crazy that we don't even have enough players to have 4 reserves.
Player of the day would have to be RTS. So good to see him scoring tries. Works his ass off every game. Good to see him getting involved later in the set too. So many players deserve a mention though. Hiku, Kodi, CHT, Burr, Tohu, Tevaga, Jennings, Pompey. Just a good team effort.
So hard to pick for this game. Eels will be out to redeem themselves after their last game and we have quite a few changes to our lineup. If we can keep the ball moving and expose the defence like Souths did then we should come away with the win. I'm going Warriors 22-16.
Fantastic game, I write the Warriors match reports for the Nothing but League website so I sit there with my laptop writing as the game is played and it was hard this week because I was enjoying just watching the game instead. Defense has been the key, for years the gameplan when facing the Warriors was to keep in touch with them for the first hour and then watch them implode in the final 20. The Warriors of the past 6 weeks just dont do that. I really hope it is something the sticks with the team after this season ends.
ReplyDeleteMaking the 8 I think is the toughest thing to predict right now, I still have a feeling they can squeak in (I even placed a bet on them making the 8 on Monday) but they just need to keep winning. Sharks havent beaten a top 8 side all year and have three of thier last four games against top 8 teams and then the other team is the Warriors so there is a chance that they could lose all 4 but it is so hard to predict. We just have to enjoy the ride I guess.
Perham to the wing and AK to the centres was what I would have picked too, I would have picked Curran just because I think he offers more Papali'i. The loss of Katoa is massive but Murchie has been great since his return to the 17 and I'm sure he will do well on the left edge. Beale I'm less excited about but he is an experienced player and hopefully brings his A-Game.
RTS has been outstanding, to be missing home and wanting to come home all the time must be hard but he has not allowed it to affect his game. I know Todd Payten deserves plenty of praise for how the Warriors are perfroming right now but I know if I was still playing and my Captain was sacrificing so much for the team then I would be giving him everything I have. Some pundits in Oz have stated that he should get the Dally M Captain of the year and to be honest I agree with them (for once).
Eels will want to bounce back but the Warriors are in form and have a shot in this match. I've mentioned it on my show The Stand-Off on New Zealand Sport Radio, but the Eels have huge issues defending on the edges, so if the Warriors can get Murchie involved on the left and Hiku does his thing on the right, then the Warriors could cause some headaches for the Eels. I've picked the Eels but a Warriors win wouldn't suprise me at all.
It was such a nice change to see us so dominant and play a game where we were in charge, not just battling to stay in the contest. This game was a good example of the results possible when you play error-free football. So often teams score against us after we concede a penalty or make our own mistake.
ReplyDeletePlayer of the day had to be our captain. He should probably have been sent home weeks ago to be with his wife and young kids, and I hope he doesn't ever regret not being there but his commitment to the team is beyond admirable. It would be totally understandable if he wasn't playing well, but instead he turns in performances like that. Amazing.
I now expect us to finish 10th or 11th, a couple of places higher than I thought earlier. Hopefully I'm wrong and we end up 8th.
It seems our choices for replacing our two Eels are limited with only 20 players being named this week because that's all that are fit and available. Hopefully Beale has the game of his life.
This game could go a few different ways. A big Eels win being one of them. A few weeks ago an Eels victory would have been an obvious pick but that's not such a certainty now. I have fears however that the tryless Blake Ferguson might get back into some form and give us trouble out wide.
I will continue to back my team though and pick a Warriors two point win.
Was a great game to watch Mark, yes if the Warriors reduce their errors and keep the penalties low, then they are a dangerous side to play against.
DeleteRTS has been outstanding, being away from his young family must be hard, I think he knows that if he left and came home the side would fall apart so that could be a reason why he is toughing it out. The Warriors need him and if the Warriors are stuck in Oz for all of next season, I hope they are able to get all of the families over there otherwise I dont know if many of the players will want to go. At least there will be more time to plan atleast.
10th or 11th may be right on the money. I still holding on for a top 8 finish but after this weeks loss to the Eels the road is a bit harder.
I though Beale played well enough but I am glad that Jennings is back this week.
Eels game was rough but I got my prediction right with a 6 point Eels win, but if you had told me at the start of the year that in the past 7 or so weeks they Warriors would only lose to the Panthers, Roosters and Eels and all by single digit margins I would have told you that you are dreaming.
Fingers crossed for a bounceback this week though.