NZ Warriors 2021 Round 10 Review: Walsh Magic not enough as Warriors dig hole with slow start

 

After round nine's defeat to the Manly Sea Eagles, the Warriors made their way to Suncorp for Magic Round to face the Parramatta Eels. It was always going to be a tough ask against a top-four side, but with several key players out for Parramatta, I gave the Warriors a decent shot. However, I was off the mark with the Eels handing the Warriors their sixth loss of the year, with the Eels winning 34-18.

Another disappointing performance with the Warriors starting the game, making error after error. The Eels, in turn, dominated possession and territory and made easy work of the Warriors defence, scoring 4 tries in the first 20 minutes of the match through Nathan Brown, Maika Sivo and a double to Reagan Campbell-Gillard, who scored his tries back to back in the space of 3 minutes. The Warriors started to string some sets together and got themselves on the board after Josh Curran scored from a Chanel Harris-Tavita bomb to end the half trailing 24-6. The second half started with more of the same, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck dropping a bomb, the Eels looked to have scored straight after the error when Shaun Lane charged over, but the Warriors managed to hold him up. It was only a slight reprieve as the Warriors knocked on another kick which saw the ball end up with debutant Jakob Arthur who put Ryan Matterson over the try-line untouched. Parramatta stepped it up a gear, and Matterson was over again, but the Bunker denied him, letting the Warriors off the hook, who started to play more threatening football with the injection of Reece Walsh. This saw the Warriors scoring next, with Ben Murdoch-Masila rampaging his way over the try-line. The Eels responded quickly with Blake Ferguson scoring in the corner, but he lost possession while grounding, keeping the hopes of a Warriors fightback intact. The Warriors surge up the field, and after a penalty for a high shot on Tuivasa-Sheck, they were in prime position, and moments later, Walsh added to his highlight reel, hitting and spinning his way to the line. This brought the Warriors back into the contest, and while they had several chances to get into scoring positions, they lacked the polish to seal the deal. After weathering the storm, the Eels got themselves back on track and, after earning a repeat set, were over for the final; try of the match when Brown spied a hole and crossed for the first try of his career. The Warriors did make a last-minute attempt to add some points, including another fantastic run from Walsh, but it was too little too late.

As I said, this was always going to be a tough match; however, if the Warriors handling was better, I think they could have shot at getting the win here. It's another loss to learn from, but they can't afford too many more as the battle for a top-eight spot is getting fierce.

It wasn't a great performance, but a few things left a smile on my face, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

Despite being well behind on the scoreboard, it thought the Warriors showed heart in the second half and started to make a game of it. So far this season, the Warriors have consistently had a patch of 20 minutes where they have just allowed their opposition to either run up a lead or overtake them. I'm not sure what is behind this mental lapse, but the Warriors need to pinpoint it and get it out of their game.

A lot of the second-half fightback came from Walsh entering the game. This kid adds so much to the Warriors attack, and while his defence is suspect at times, I think he showed improvement this week. I also like that the Warriors actually tried to get him the ball this week after I complained last week that they didn't involve him enough, but more on him later.

I also thought Euan Aitken had a decent return, he added some starch to the Warriors edge, and I think he will back to his best in no time. He is a solid defender and a decent runner; his return has come at the right time for the Warriors to hopefully start to string some wins together, especially with two very winnable games in the next two rounds.

There were also things that troubled me, which leads to my negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

Obviously, my first negative is the Warriors errors; they made 15 errors and only completed 61% of their sets. This immediately put them on the backfoot, and against a quality side, you just can't give up sets so easily. How do you fix it? I'm not sure, but I guess they can work on their passing game for a start as so many passes were thrown haphazardly and ended up over the receiver's head.

My next negative is the poor first half; this links directly with the errors as the Warriors had very little possession and territory in that first half, and when they did finally start to hold onto the ball, they didn't do much with it. Harris-Tavita looked better than he did last week, but his kicking options weren't the best, and his halves partner didn't help. I want to see a better start this week, as slow starts just suck any momentum out of the match.

Lastly, the Warriors forwards did the halves no favours, with only Tohu Harris running for over 100 metres; BMM wasn't far behind with 92 and would have most likely click over 100 if he didn't have to go off to get stitches. If the Warriors had more ball in the first half, we might have seen higher numbers from the pack, but they need to do their part if they want to start winning games. The return of Addin Fonua-Blake could not come soon enough.

Warrior of the Match

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My Warrior of the match goes to Reece Walsh.

He only had 46 minutes in this match, but boy did he make them count; he ran for 159 metres, made 3 linebreaks, 1 linebreak assist, 7 tackle-breaks, and lead the Warriors with 99 kick metres from 7 kicks. The impact he has on games cannot be understated, and he continues to prove that he deserves a spot in the starting side. I still think he needs to be in the halves while RTS is in the side as I don't like seeing the captain sent to the wing. I feel like Nathan Brown will name him on the bench again, however, but I think the Warriors are a better side with him on the park, so having him on from the start seems like a no brainer.

Warrior to Improve

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My Warrior who needs to improve is Kodi Nikorima. He played a large part in many of the Warriors errors in the match’s early stages. He continually put players on his outside under pressure with wayward passes and generally lacked the polish needed to be a first grade half. The fact that an 18-year-old rookie has more impact on the Warriors attack in limited minutes shows how poor Nikorima is performing. If the Warriors are to stay a top-eight contender, they need Nikorima to either step up or move to Hooker or No. 14, where I think he plays his best football.

Next Rounds' thoughts and prediction

Round 11 sees the Warriors return to Central Coast Stadium to face the Wests Tigers. While the Tigers currently sit at 13th on the ladder, they are by no means easy beats as they have displayed some great heart, and Adam Doueihi and Moses Mbye played well at Suncorp and will be dangerous. If the Warriors can sort out their handling, then they should get the win here. So I am picking the Warriors to get the win by 14.

I think Brown needs to make changes to the squad, Walsh to start, and I would also swap Adam Pompey and Rocco Berry around as I think Pompey is a better winger than a centre. Josh Curran's injury could see him miss some game time, so I would be bringing Jack Murchie or Eliesa Katoa into the mix. Brown loves to keep us guessing with his selections, so the team announced tomorrow most likely won't be the one we see run out on Friday night, but fingers crossed it's an exciting game.

So that was a disappointing Round 10, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

How would you like to see the team line up this round?
Who was your player to improve?
Do you think the Warriors can play finals footy this year?
What is your score prediction for the Tigers clash?