NZ Warriors 2021 Round 2 Review: Knights break Hearts with last-gasp Victory over Warriors

After a successful Round 1, The Warriors remained on the Central Coast to play host to the Newcastle Knights.

Throughout the week, everyone was talking about the battle between these sides forward packs. While it did not disappoint, it was Newcastle's 19-year-old centre Bradman Best that stole the show as he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat as the Knights came from behind to beat the Warriors 20-16.

Well, close but no cigar for the Warriors, this was the second game in a row that could have been picked by a coin toss, and it truly went down to the wire. My heart sank when the Warriors started the match with their kick-off sailing over the sidelines on the full, but they were able to withstand the Knights attack. Then once they got the hold of the ball, the Warriors were able to surge up the field and had repeated sets in the Knights red zone but just couldn't turn any chances into points.

Despite that, Newcastle drew first blood when Jayden Brailey spotted some slow markers and scooted out of dummy half. The Warriors appeared to have responded when Wayde Egan barged over similarly to Brailey; however, the try was denied when the bunker checked it as Kodi Nikorima was setting up for the conversion. A bit of a controversial call, in my opinion, as it looked like Egan still had control of the ball; thankfully, the Warriors were given a penalty due to the markers not being straight, and it didn't take them long to score when a quick play from Egan saw Tohu Harris send Ben Murdoch-Masila across the line with a nice short ball. The rest of the first half saw both sides trade sets with neither getting the upper hand until a penalty against Jazz Tevaga for the use of a knee in the tackle gave the Knights the chance to take an 8-6 lead into the break.

Bradman Best showed his skills to open the second half when he put Hymel Hunt away in the corner to push their lead out, and it looked like the Warriors could be in trouble. But the return of Addin Fonua-Blake, who left the field early in the first half with a calf strain, added some much-needed punch up the middle. The Warriors backline started to show glimpses of attacking threat and score back to back tries through Adam Pompey and Ken Maumalo, which saw the Warriors take the lead for the first time in the match with only 13 minutes remaining. It was edge of your seat stuff as the Knights kept testing the Warriors defensive line until it finally broke when a missed tackle saw Best break the line and then offload to Hunt for his second try of the night. The Warriors had one last attempt at winning the match in the dying staged when Bayley Sironen broke the line, but as his offload went to the ground, it was all she wrote for the Warriors.

It was a hard-fought match, and without Best's influence on attack, I think the Warriors may have got themselves home here; it will be a tough loss for the side to take. Still, I'm sure they will have taken some valuable lessons from this match as they set off for two very tough challenges back to back against the Raiders and Roosters. 

Despite the result, some things brought a smile to my face, which leads me to my positives from the game.

The weather wasn't the best, but the Warriors achieved a high completion rate of 87%, completing 41 out of 47 sets despite the conditions.  Just like I said last week, the Warriors need to keep the completion rate at this level but focus on turning these sets into scoring opportunities. 

The Warriors showed heart and kept themselves in the fight; being down 14-6 early on in the second half, they could have easily folded and suffered a heavy defeat like several other teams have already shown this season. But the Warriors kept their heads in the game and played a much improved second half to get themselves back into the contest; they just need to work on keeping a lead once they get it.

The Warriors forwards were not as dominant as they were in Round 1, with several of the pack not playing at the same level they did last week; it was a quiet night for Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Eliesa Katoam Bayley Sironen and Bunty Afoa. However, Tohu Harris, Jazz Tevaga, Leeson Ah Mau, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Addin Fonua-Blake all picked up the slack.

I want to highlight Fonua-Blake and Murdoch-Masila for praise; AFB only managed limited minutes due to his injury but still lead the pack with 144 metres from 13 runs. BMM also played well off the bench, running 71 metres of 9 hit-ups. His stats may not have been as good as AFB's, but he made a noticeable impact when he came on and could really become a great impact player for the side. The more he adjusts back to the NRL, the better he will be.

I thought Roger Tuivasa-Sheck had a much better game this week, inserting himself into the backline to set up two tries. He had an uncommon dropped kicked, but that was really the only blemish on his scorecard this week. I still want to see him running off the shoulder of his large forwards to be ready for an offload. He could bust opposition defensive lines wide open and score some scintillating tries if he runs that inside channel.

I did have some concerns, though, which brings me to my match negatives.

The side looked flat in the first half like they lacked energy. Now I can't explain why they were stuck in first gear, but if they want to compete against the top tier sides, they need to come out of the gate fast and keep the pressure on for 80 minutes. A positive aspect of this match was that the Warriors looked a lot better in the second half.

Much like last week, the team is still lacking cohesion, Kodi Nikorima and Chanel Harris-Tavita were struggling to lead the side, and the backline just wasn't clicking for large portions of the match. The Warriors have the pack to get them into the red zone; they just need their halves to create scoring chances for the side once they get there. They showed glimpses of their potential with the tries to Pompey and Maumalo and a few repeat sets due to some nicely weighted grubbers. It's just about increasing those glimpses into a consistent style of play. 

The Warriors discipline went backwards slightly this week, conceding 6 penalties and 2 players placed on report in Jazz Tevaga for his knee incident and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown for a crusher tackle. JTB looks certain to miss at minimum 4 weeks for his charge, but there is no word yet that Tevaga could miss any game time. To pull a positive out of this, the Warriors did not make any ruck infringements and were not caught inside the 10 metres (unlike the Knights, who were caught inside the 10 on five occasions and appeared guilty several more times).

My last negative is missed tackles, the Warriors missed 22 missed tackles, and more importantly, it was a missed tackle that lead to the Knights getting the match-winner. I was impressed with the Warriors defence last week, and I am hoping that this was just an off night and that the defence from Round 1 is what we should expect for the rest of the season. 

Copyright Photo: Getty Images

My Warrior of the match was Tohu Harris.

Fresh off a new haircut and a new deal, Harris had yet another strong outing. 15 runs for 135 metres, 44 tackles with only 1 miss, 1 linebreak, and 1 try assist. When the going gets, tough Harris is always there putting his hand up to do work. With the backs continuing to struggle, I think he will need to step up and help them in the game's playmaking aspect until they start to gel.

He is the most likely candidate for taking over as skipper in 2022, and I could think of no better successor to RTS; and I hope he can inspire the players around him to deliver the consistency that he displays week in and week out.

Copyright Photo: Stuff.co.nz

My Warrior to improve goes to Kodi Nikorima.

It was a quiet night for Nikorima; he only made 19 running metres from 3 runs. Defensively he wasn't too bad, making 19 tackles with only 2 misses. He also had the majority of the kicking stats with 15 kicks for 460 metres.

Nikorima is the senior half in the Warriors squad, and he needs to step up and lead the side. If he can see that Harris-Tavita is struggling to lead the side, he has to take over. Now that may not be what he has been told to do by Nathan Brown, and if that is the case, he just needs to start running again; he is at his most dangerous when he spies holes in the defensive line. I think the combination of Nikorima and Harris-Tavita has potential, but if Nikorima doesn't come to the party, then the Warriors backline with continue to have issues.

Round 3 sees the Warriors travel for the first time this season, heading to the Australian Capital to face the Canberra Raiders. This is going to be a big challenge for the Warriors. The Raiders are a good team and hard to defeat when on home soil. The Warriors will need to bring their A-game if they want to walk away victors. I expect to see the Warriors bounce back from their round 2 performance, but I'm not sure it will be enough. They have the forwards to win the battle, but I am not confident that the backline will compete with the Raiders, especially with the news that Harris-Tavita will most likely miss the match with a foot injury, so I am going with a Raiders win by 12.

Before I go, I just want to touch on the news that the Warriors have signed Reece Walsh on a 3-year deal. I am sure that you have all seen the highlight reel from the young fullback, and I like what I see. He looks safe under the high ball, has plenty of pace and likes to get himself involved in the action. This weekend he scored a double and kicked 6 conversions for the North Devils, the Broncos will be kicking themselves for letting this talented youngster go, and the Warriors have a bonafide star on their hands. His signing also leaves plenty of salary-cap space for the Warriors to target other players. If it was up to me, I would be throwing an offer put to Adam Reynolds and advising Nikorima that if he wished to take up his player option, he would be moving into hooker. This would strengthen the Warriors halves as well as improving their dummy-half. Sounds like a winning combination to me; I know Nikorima wants to be a half, but I am unsure if any NRL clubs would offer him a deal to stay in the halves.

So that was an unfortunate Round 2, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your thoughts on the signing of Reece Walsh?

With JTB about to spend time on the sidelines, who would you bring into the 17?
Who was your player of the day?

What is your score prediction for the Raiders clash?