NZ Warriors 2021 Round 11 Review: Reece on the rise as Warriors hold back Tigers

After round 10's defeat to the Parramatta Eels, the Warriors returned to their adopted home on the Central Coast to face the Wests Tigers. I came into this match confident that the Warriors could get the job done, and despite a last-minute scare from the Tigers, the Warriors did enough to get the job done, walking away with a 30-26 victory.

I enjoyed this match, it wasn't a perfect performance by the Warriors, and it was a nailbiting finish with the Tigers almost stealing the win in the final seconds. Watching the Tigers throw the ball over the sidelines when it looked like they were going to break Warriors fans hearts was a great feeling, but hopefully, the Warriors don't cut it this close again for a while as my nerves won't be able to hack it.

The first half was pretty evenly matched, with the Warriors leading 18-10 after scoring tries through Marcelo Montoya, Jack Murchie, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Reece Walsh, where the Tigers scored twice with a Luke Garner double.

The second-half saw the Tigers strike first through David Nofoaluma, and after Ben Murdoch-Masila was sin-binned, they levelled the scores with a penalty goal. This is where I thought the Warriors had the win in the bag; the Tigers had two penalties in the Warriors RedZone and electing to take the two points both times instead of backing themselves to score a try. Just as BMM was about to return, Eliesa Katoa found himself sent to the bin, which saw my confidence dealt a blow, but the Warriors did not let it affect them and actually scored another two tries through Wade Egan and Montoya to take a comfortable lead into the final 10 minutes. They may have been too comfortable, though, as they allowed James Tamou to barged over in the 78th minute to give the Tigers a sniff. As mentioned above, the Tigers kept control of the ball and had a massive overlap on the left, but some sloppy passing allowed the Warriors to scramble to cover, which made the Tigers shift to the right, and a mistimed pass saw the ball go out and end the match.

It wasn't their best performance, but they got the much-needed two points against a Tigers side that, despite being low on the ladder, have been taking teams to the little all year. The Warriors now have a good shot at going into the bye week with a 6-6 record, which gives them a solid foundation for the backend of the season, especially with Addin Fonua-Blake returning straight after the bye.

There was quite a bit that left a smile on my face, which leads to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

The Warriors attack was vastly improved compared to last week's effort. They played with better direction and threatened the Tigers line repeatedly, making 6 line breaks and 22 tackle breaks. Walsh slotted into the attack nicely from fullback, and Tuivasa-Sheck injected himself into the action despite being on the wing. This side knows how to score points; I just want to see them play this style of football more often. If I had to pick an issue with the attack, it would be Adam Pompey's ball hogging; there were several moments when he could have put the man on his outside away but decided to hold the ball himself, I still believe he is a winger, and we may see him move out there again at some stage. Still, until then, he needs to learn to draw and pass. Another note was Montoya's option to kick instead of passing inside to Walsh after the Warriors made a break was just frustrating to see a potential chance blown.

The backline looks good, RTS on the wing was not as bad as I feared and to be honest, I would be happy to keep this lineup moving forward, except for moving Pompey to the wing. 

My consistent players to improve, Wayde Egan and Kodi Nikorima, both improved in this match.

Nikorima did not run as much as I would like, but he directed the team a lot better and partnered with Walsh well. He also ended the match with two try assists, including the nice grubber for Egan's try.

Egan had his best game in a long time; he had 4 runs for 41 metres, 55 tackles, and delivered quicker ball from the ruck.

I have my fingers crossed that this is a sign of things to come for both players.

Lastly, I liked that the Warriors scored 2 tries and conceded 0 when they were reduced to 12 men. In plenty of games in the past two rounds, we have seen that when a player has been sent to the bin, that team falls apart and is out of the contest, so good to see the Warriors managed to keep the pressure on. Hopefully, the Warriors don't have to be put in that situation too much this season, but they should have the confidence to stay competitive if it does happen again.

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

Match Negatives

As we have seen in many games this season, the Warriors are still having issues staying in the game for 80 minutes. They just have defensive lapses, which opens the door wide open for their opposition to either mount a comeback or run away with a lead. They missed 39 tackles, which is still far too many for my liking, but I think if they keep this lineup together, then they can build trust and combinations. We should this side of their game improve, as the cliche goes, defence win championships, so the Warriors won't last long in the playoffs if they get there if they rely on trying to outscore their opponents.

The errors were still too high, they made 10 unforced errors (down from the 15 last week), and as I keep saying, you cannot give up sets so easily in the NRL as the majority of sides involved in the competition will make you pay for just handing them easy sets. On a positive note, the Warriors reduced the poor passing errors that plagued them last week.

The Warriors had an issue with discipline this week, conceding 5 penalties, 3 ruck infringements and the 2 sin-bins. I think they were hard done by with some of the calls, and BMM's sin-bin, I think, was harsh. Katoa's was a silly error, but fair enough. Jazz Tevaga was lucky not to go to the bin with two high shots, Now while I don't think either were sin-bin worthy anyway, but with the way some of the referees have been the past two rounds, he was fortunate. They have been pretty good this season with their discipline, so I hope that this match was just an outlier and we see them return to the low penalty counts once again this week.

And my last point was the forward's lack of punch. Only Tohu Harris, Tevaga, Leeson Ah Mau and Katoa managed to run over 100 metres. Nathan Brown rotation was puzzling, with several forwards having large spells, which may not have helped, but Jamayne Taunoa-Brown only managed 2 runs for 9 metres, Kane Evans also only had 2 runs for 18 metres, and Bunty Afoa had 5 runs for 45 metres. Thankfully it didn't stop the backs from getting into the match, but against stiffer competition, the forwards really need to get themselves back into the action; AFB's return will help.

Warrior of the Match

Copyright Photo: Stuff.co.nz

My Warrior of the match goes to Reece Walsh.

The youngster gets the nod for the second week in a row, I wanted him to start, and I got my wish and man, he didn't disappoint. His game didn't start out well when he failed to clean up a grubber which saw the Tigers scored in the early stages; however, he didn't let it get to him and put on some fantastic cut-out passes, which lead to 3 try assists, not to mention a nice show of pace to score a try of his own after a short ball from Nikorima. He ran for 133 metres and also made up for that earlier defensive error throwing his body on the line in a try-saving effort in the corner. On my show The Stand-Off on New Zealand Sport Radio, we have praised what we have seen so far from the rookie, and I am so excited to watch this kid grow while wearing a Warriors jersey. He still has a lot of stuff to work on, but he sounds keen to learn and definitely knows how to add excitement to a match.

Warrior to Improve

Copyright Photo: Getty Images

I don't have a Warrior to improve this week; a few didn't have their best match but not enough to point out here. So instead, I want to shout out Tohu Harris.

Harris once again was the cream of the crop when it came to the Warriors pack. He ran 18 times for 160 metres and made 45 tackles. He just gives 100% week in and week out and is truly the glue holding this pack together. The surefire choice for Captaincy next season continues to impress, and if the rest of the pack can come up to his level, then the Warriors would be a force to be reckoned with.

 

Next Rounds' thoughts and prediction

Round 12 sees the Warriors head to Queensland Country Bank Stadium to face the Cowboys. The Cowboys had a good win against the Knights in Round 11 but will have to go without Jason Taumalolo and Lachlan Burr in a serious hit to their pack. It will still be a tough match for the Warriors, though, and they will need a massive effort from the forwards if they want to have the edge. If they do that, then their backline should make easy work of the Cowboys edges and get the win, so I'm picking the Warriors to get the victory by 10.

Brown's selection games will undoubtedly continue, but I'm sure we will see the same 17 that played in round 11, which I don't mind.

So that was a happier Round 11, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Would you make any changes to the Warriors 17?
Did you have a player to improve?
Are you excited to see more game time for Walsh?
What is your score prediction for the Cowboys clash?