NZ Warriors 2021 Round 1 Review: Promising Start as Warriors dominate Titans in Gritty Win

After a short preseason, the NRL is back, and Round 1 saw the Warriors return to their foster home on the Central Coast to face the Gold Coast Titans.

With the last encounter between these sides being the 12-All draw in the trial a few weeks back, this match was meant to be close; however, the Warriors, led impressively by their pack, started their 2021 campaign with the right foot forward with a 19-6 victory.

Man, it's great to start my match reviews off talking about a win.

The Titans have been the talk of the 2020 bottom eight sides after the signings of David Fifita and Tino Fa'asuamaleui, and I must admit I came into this match very nervous.

Don't get me wrong, I picked the Warriors to win this match; I just thought that the Titans would bring more to the table. It wasn't a try fest by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a tough, hard-fought victory that has increased my confidence that the Warriors have what it takes to be competitive this season.

Both sides traded blows in the early stages with plenty of big hits, but neither side could get themselves across the line. The Titans gave Warriors fans a few scares, nearly coming close to scoring twice, but the Warriors were able to scramble and keep them out. The scoring drought was finally broken in the 25th-minute when Warriors recruit Bayley Sironen barged over for his first try for the club. That was the only try scored in the first half, but the Warriors just kept plugging away, and it only took them 10 minutes to cross the line again, with Leeson Ah Mau also crashing; they then crossed for their third and final try in the 68th minute when Kodi Nikorima snatched a Bunty Afoa offload to score untouched. This put the game to bed, but the Titans managed to finally get themselves on the board in the 73rd minute when the found the Warriors edge napping for a brief moment allowing Corey Thompson to score in the corner.

It's wasn't pretty, but the Warriors promised that their forward pack would be charging right through the front gate, and they did just that. If the forwards continue to deliver on that promise, then I'm sure that everything else will begin to fall into place.

There was a lot to like from this match, which leads me to my positives from the game.

Firstly the forwards, I talked about it above, but the forwards just dominated the Titans right from the start. They came out strong and never let up, now although three of the pack ran for over 100 metres (Addin Fonua-Blake, Tohu Harris and Jazz Tevaga), the rest of the forwards still find their way to contribute. I was worried that the Warriors would take a backstep when Fonua-Blake went off, but there was no huge difference in how the Warriors charged up the middle. With this performance and how the new rules have changed the game, the Warriors wore the Titans down, which led to some poor defensive reads from the Titans, resulting in the barge over tries. It is a great starting point, but the top tier sides won't fatigue as easy, so the Warriors need to continue growing and developing their playing style.

Next up is the Warriors defence. The Titans only threatened a few times, and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck came up trump with two try-saving efforts. With the Warriors winning the middle, the Titans tried to target the edges and were shut down quite well. Euan Aitken and Chanel Harris-Tavita did well keeping Kevin Proctor contained, and Peta Hiku surprised me with how well he defended; I have been highly critical of Hiku's defence in his time with the Warriors, but he stepped up in this match, being a constant nuisance to Fa'asuamaleaui and never letting him get into second gear. There were still a few patches in the match where the Warriors made a few defensive misreads but as far as a first hitout goes, it looks like the coaching staff have worked on a defensive structure that plays to the Warriors strengths, the round 3 clash against the Raiders will be the first true indicator this year on how good this defence actually is.

My last positive is the reduced error rate. The Warriors only made 6 errors, completing 40 out of 44 sets. That's a 91% completion rate. Again not bad for the first game of the year; I think you could put a little asterisk next to this because the Warriors focused on running up the middle, which reduced the chances of errors slightly. The key now is to keep their completion rate up while also increasing their scoring opportunities, simply barging over for tries will not continue to work in the long run.

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

I thought the backline was still rusty, the forwards set the platform, but the backs just couldn't capitalise on it. It's still hard to gauge due to only being one game in, but I want to see the Warriors get their backs into some scoring scenarios. With players like Fonua-Blake being able to break tackles and get an offload out, the Warriors really need the likes of Tuivasa-Sheck or Nikorima to just hover off his shoulder and make a break. If the Warriors can start to do that, then they will cause defences some headaches.

I thought Harris-Tavita's kicking game was average, it appears like it may have been part of the gameplan, but his kicking in the first half didn't really offer anything substantial for the Warriors backs to latch onto. Harris-Tavita is still not at 100%, and it was his first hit-out after missing the trial, so I'm confident that he will get back into the swing of things. With Fusitu'a back in the line-up, they need to start kicking to him in the corner where he is generally successful in beating his marker for the ball; there are plenty of points just begging to be scored if they bring that play back into the gameplan.

My last negative is the injuries to Wayde Egan and Euan Aitken. Egan went off after failing his HIA, and Aitken injured his ankle but played through the injury to complete the match. There has been no update on if these injuries will prevent them from being available in Round two. I think Jazz Tevaga played well when he had to slot into hooker, so while it is not ideal, he can take that role on without the Warriors losing much. With the news of Karl Lawton's release this week, the Warriors hooker depth is still a huge concern, but I'm sure the Warriors have got something cooking behind the scenes; otherwise, they would have let Lawton go, plus his salary will help the Warriors find an adequate hooker to join the club this season.

With Aitken, I thought he had a great first hitout, and while he didn't get too many chances on attack, he made up for it with the defensive side of his game. He will be a loss if he cannot play in Round two, but if it was me, I would be bringing in Adam Pompey, he impressed me last season, and he deserves to be the first called in as injury cover. The Warriors may have other ideas, but it seems like the logical choice.

Copyright Photo: Stuff.co.nz

My Warrior of the match goes to Addin Fonua-Blake.

Man, what a debut for the Warriors marque signing; playing for 56 minutes, Fonua-Blake ran for 202 metres, broke 5 tackles and had 4 offloads. He also didn't shy away from his defensive responsibilities making 22 tackles and only missing one to end the match with 95.7% tackle efficiency. The Warriors have lacked a metre eater in the front row for some time, and AFB fits the bill perfectly. He was constantly looking for work and, with the ball in hand, was a constant threat of breaking the line; his offloading ability is a fantastic addition; the Warriors just need to take advantage of it.

Another positive is that AFB didn't give away any silly penalties; I mentioned earlier this year that his discipline was my biggest concern, but he appears to be enjoying his new environment, and the extra responsibility of being in the Warriors leadership will help him improve that facet of his game.

I fully expect AFB to feature in this section of my reviews multiple times this season.

 

Copyright Photo: Getty Images

I have no Warrior to improve this week, I thought a few players didn't play to their potential, but they also didn't let themselves down. Fingers crossed for more weeks of no Warriors to improve.

Round 2 sees the Warriors stay on the Central Coast to host the Newcastle Knights fresh of a 32-16 win over the Bulldogs. It's hard to gauge the Knights right now due to them only playing the Bulldogs, but even with Kalyn Ponga still out with his shoulder injury, there is still plenty of danger in this squad. The Warriors pack have another big day ahead of them, and they will need to keep Daniel Saifiti and David Klemmer quiet. With some tough matches against the Raiders and Roosters coming up, the Warriors need to get the result here, and I confident that they will get the job done, so I'm picking the Warriors to win by 10.

So that was a promising Round 1, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your first impressions for the Warriors chances this season?
Who was your player of the day?

Do you have any players to improve?

If Aitken is ruled out, who would you bring in?

What is your score prediction for the Knights clash?