NZ Warriors Round 20 Review: Season ends on a high note as Warriors thump Sea Eagles

After last weeks spirited performance against the Canberra Raiders, the Warriors returned to their foster home on the Central Coast to face the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. 

With neither side moving onto the finals series, this was the last chance they had to end their season on a positive note. After surviving an early onslaught by Manly, it was the Warriors who ended their season in the winners' circle, winning 40-28 in a high-scoring affair.

What a way for the Warriors to end their season. I was confident that they would get the job done but watching Manly starve the Warriors of possession in the early stages and surging out to a 10-0 lead. I must admit I started to worry that the Warriors were already mentally on the flight home. However, as soon as the Warriors got their hands on the ball, all that worry went away as they went off a tryscoring blitz, scoring 5 tries on the trot and once they got the lead, they never looked in doubt despite leaking another 3 tries.

Besides the Sea Eagle's quick start, the Warriors were able to dominate the territory and forced Manly to try and play their way out of their own 20 for the majority of their sets, and most teams would struggle to stay competitive when camped that deep in their own half.

The Warriors look set to farewell Patrick Herbert and Adam Keighran, but I think their efforts in this match showed why the Warriors should keep them around, we have seen what injuries can do to a sides playoff aspirations, so depth is needed, and they are both more than capable of filling spots on the field. If the Warriors do let them go, I hope they get picked up by another club as they still deserve a place in the NRL.

It was a good performance by a side that many had written off (myself included) after a less than stellar start to the 2020 season, and they have earnt plenty of respect from their opposition and the Australian media alike. Now after spending 5 months away from home, they can come back for a much-deserved break to spend some quality time with their families before getting back into the grind of preseason training for the 2021 season.

There was plenty to smile about in this performance which leads me to my positives from the game.

The Warriors played plenty of positive attacking football, and it was beautiful to watch. There wasn't as much "Warriors Football" as you would have expected, but they attacked with intent and played smart football. If they can continue to play that smart football with a healthy dose of offloads and second phase football, then they will be a handful for any side to face.

The forward pack outdid themselves again, the platform they set put the Warriors in the driver's seat, and it gave the backs all the chances they needed to score points. 5 of the pack ran for over 100 metres with my Warrior of the year Tohu Harris leading the way yet again with 159 metres.

There are plenty of young players in this pack, and with plenty of experienced players back in New Zealand due to injury or family reasons it forced the rookies to step up and learn to be first graders without a safety net, and I think they delivered.

Eliesa Katoa, Jamayne Taunoa-Brown and Jack Murchie have all played well beyond their years, and I look forward to watching their careers grow next year.

Behind that rolling forward pack, Kodi Nikorima and Chanel Harris-Tavita had plenty of time to put the side into attacking situations and it was perhaps their best outing as a halves pairing.

Nikorima started to run again and will need to ensure that he consistently brings that facet of his game next season as the Warriors are a more dangerous outfit when he has his running shoes on.

Harris-Tavita showed why he is the future of this club with a great outing, he ended the match with 4 try assists and a solid kicking game.

It's still early days for this pairing, but I think they bring the best out of each other and their combination will continue to grow, especially when they get to play behind that impressive pack in 2021.

Lastly, the Warriors discipline improved this week, with the side only conceding 1 penalty and giving away 5 six again calls.

The six again calls were mainly in the early stages when Manly keep hold of the ball, but it was a great display from the Warriors as they made the Sea Eagles work for every set the got. Going into 2021, I want to see the Warriors bring this level of discipline week in and week out, give away no freebies and watch those other sides start to worry.

There wasn't much, but I did have a few issues which leads me to my negatives from the match.

Those slow starts are coach killers, and the Warriors need to sort it out, they have shown that can bounce back when they are behind in the early stages. If the Warriors want to be competitive in the NRL, they can't afford to give their opposition a leg up in the opening quarter of football.

My usual negative is still here with the Warriors missing 28 tackles. They stilhave great scrambling defence but they need to tighten up that first contact defence to just make winning a little bit easier. I'm not sure if it is down to attitude, communication or technique but improving the defense is a top priority when the team gets back together in the preseason.

My Warrior of the match for the second week in a row goes to Peta Hiku.

There were a few players that could have taken this spot with Harris-Tavita, Adam Keighran and Eliesa Katoa all putting thier hands up but I had to go with Hiku in a strong outing at fullback.

Filling Roger Tuivasa-Shecks boots is always a tough ask and Hiku had a few hiccups in the early stages but as his confidence started to grow he was a constant threat on attack, when he sits out on the edge he is one of the best at putting his winger away but that went to another level when he was out the back as he was inserting himself into the attack all over the park and his pass to Keighran for his first try was fantastic. I'm not saying that I would move him to fullback fulltime but I hope that RTS can learn a few of Hiku's tricks to add an extra dimension to his attack.

Also for the second week in a row, I have no Warrior to improve so I want to give a shout out to Adam Blair.

Blair announced his retirement during the week in what must have been a hard decision for him to make but I think it was the right call. There is plenty of talent in the Warriors forwards now and he may have struggled to get himself into the 17 not to mention 2021 looks to be another year spent in Australia so retiring now and getting to spend time at home with the family looks pretty good.

Blair has had his share of up's and down's and his time with the Warriors has not always been that flash but I think he had a strong 2020 after being moved to the front row.

He will still remain with the Warriors with rumours of him working with the young Maori players in the community and I think he will ace it and I truly wish him the best with this new opportunity. It takes a special kind of player to spend 15 years in first grade and I want to thank him for all he has done with the Kiwis and the Warriors.

So 2020 is done and what a season it has been, at times it looked like the season was not even going to reach the finals but watching the Warriors improvement in the finals stages of the season made this season a little more tolerable.

I miss going to live games and I hope we get games at Mount Smart next year but with how everything is going in the world I am not getting my hopes up just yet but my fingers will be crossed.

I will be taking a break from my writing for a little bit but my season review will be up during the finals. I also want to do some writing during the offseason instead of dissapeering for a few months so if you have anything you would like me to write about let me know.

I was thinking of doing some pieces like my top 5 warriors of the season, 5 that failed to deliver. Things like that so stay tuned.

My weekly show The Stand-Off will still be airing every Wednesday on Facebook and IHeart Radio on New Zealand Sport Radio so if you haven't checked that yet, tune in on Wednesdays at 8 and throw some questions my way.

https://www.facebook.com/nzsportradio/

I'm proud of how they team has gone this year, obviously making the playoffs would have been better but with all the trials and tribulations the Warriors have faced this season I think they have set a solid platform moving into 2020.

Nathan Brown has a big task ahead of him and will need to ensure that the Warriors start next season in the same manner that they ended this one.

Addin Fonua-Blake and Ben Murdoch-Masila add plenty of size to the pack and Euan Aitken is a handy addition to the backline so anything less than finals football will be disappointing but I must say, it feels great to be feeling optimistic about next season.

So that was a positive Round 20, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Who do you think will win the Grand Final?
Do you think the Warriors can reach the playoffs in 2021?
Who was your player of the day?
Would you be keeping any of the players that the Warriors are letting go?