NZ Warriors Round 24 Review: Warriors slim playoff hopes sink in second half collapse

After round 23's defeat to the Broncos, the Warriors made their way to BB Print Stadium in Mackay to face the Canberra Raiders. Both sides needed the victory here if they wanted to keep their playoff aspirations alive, and I was confident that the Warriors could get the job done here, and it certainly looked that way when they shot out to a 16-0 lead; however, it wasnt to be as the Warriors didn't return from the sheds at halftime, allowing the Raiders to come from behind with a 28-16 victory putting playoffs officially out of reach for the Warriors.

The Warriors busted out of the gates scoring in the first minute when Wayde Egan darted out of the ruck before putting Sean O'Sullivan away. After a brief battle in the middle with neither side getting the upper hand until the Warriors scored back to back tries when they kicked towards Bailey Simonsson, who had a shocker and failed to defuse either kick, allowing Rocco Berry and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to score. The Warriors had a few more chances but failed to capitalise; just before halftime, the Raiders got on the board when Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad barged his way over to see the Warriors enter the sheds with a 16-6 lead.

The Raiders were over again in the first two minutes of the second half when Sebastian Kris barged over on the right edge before the game once again settled into a battle. No points were scored until Kris finished off a nice 50-metre play, which after Jordan Rapana's conversion, saw the match level with 15 minutes to go. The Warriors had a few attempts of regaining the lead but made some poor choices with the ball in hand, which was a constant theme of the second half with Chad Townsend off the pitch after reinjuring his shoulder. Reece Walsh attempted a field goal which sailed to the left. This seemed to be the last swing the Warriors could muster as the Raiders scored down the left edge, with Rapana scoring the match-winning, in almost an identical manner to his try from round 3 that was stopped by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. The Warriors attempted a short kickoff and came within a fingers grasp of grabbing before the Raiders struck again as the final siren blared when Hudson Young scooped up the loose ball after Walsh dropped a bomb to score the Raiders fifth and final try of the night.

It was a frustrating watch, the Warriors had the game in control, but as soon as Chad Townsend was injured, they lost their direction and with Matt Lodge and Addin Fonua-Blake both off the field, the Warriors lost their backbone in the middle. It just opened the doors for the Raiders to walk straight back in. I don't really know what else to say here that I won't cover in my positives and negatives, so I may as well just get into it.

Despite the result, there were a handful of things in the match that made me smile, which brings me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

Chad Townsend was strong while he was on the pitch, he directed the side round the park well, and his kicking was on point. I think it was his best performance since rejoining the club; it was also his last game for the Warriors, as the injury he suffered will see him miss the final game of the year against the Titans. I hope that Sean O'Sullivan and Chanel Harris-Tavita have learned from the veteran half during his stay and can step up and similarly direct the team in the final match of the season before Shaun Johnson returns next season.

As expected, Matt Lodge and Addin Fonua-Blake were strong up the middle, with both running over 100m (AFB with 179m and Lodge with 171m). They look so much better when they are playing; the issue though is that when they both come off the field, the Warriors performance falls off a cliff. Both players can play large minutes, but the coaching staff need to figure out how to make sure they have at least one of these guys on the field all the time if they stagger them coming off in a way where one comes off early and plays a longer second stint and the other plays longer at the start and shorter in the second. I'm not a coach, so I could be way off the mark, but I feel the Warriors are better when these guys are out there, so make they both don't sit on the pine at the same time.

I had plenty of concerns, however, which brings me to my negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

That second half was shocking; I already mentioned that when Townsend went off, the Warriors went off the rails, but I feel that they may have come out for the second half thinking they had done enough to keep the lead. Complete speculation on my part, but in the NRL, a 10 point lead is never safe; you need to keep the pressure on. To see the Warriors let the Raiders off the hook when their season was on the line just hurt as a fan and makes me concerned with how they will go this week with nothing but pride to play for against a team still desperate to squeak into the playoffs.

Errors again hurt the Warriors; they ended the match with 10, and just like last week, many of them came from poor carries. They just need to show the ball more respect and keep that ball locked in when making contact. It can be easier said than done, but the Warriors have shown throughout the season that they can play error-free football, so with one game left, I want to see the errors move into single digits. 

Ah, missed tackles, my old friend; it's back once again with the Warriors missing 44 in this match. The first half was a reasonably good defensive display, but the defensive line went to tatters when Lodge and AFB went off. Once that middle started to soften, the edge defence started slipping, and the Raiders just started breaking the line at will. Defence has been a massive concern for me all year and needs to be one of the main things addresses in the offseason.

Nathan Brown's team selection needs plenty of work. Seeing him drop Jazz Tevaga to 18th man and bring in Kane Evans had me scratching my head. Evans has done nothing to deserve a spot in the 17, and this game was more of the same. He offers very little on attack running only 3 times in the 29 minutes he played. A positive was that he made no errors this time; he is a monster of a man; he just doesn't play like one. Tevaga offers so much more and should have at least been on the bench, if not starting at lock instead of Bayley Sironen, who still isn't offering enough. Brown needs to pick his best side. This year I don't believe he has done that, and if he continues this trend next season, we may have to be prepared for more disappointment.

Lastly, I want to touch on milking, the Raiders players appeared to be staying down after tackles in a bid to earn some soft penalties, and it worked for them, with the Warriors being penalised 7 times. It just irked me to see the Warriors getting punished for legitimate tackles when the Raiders got away with some high contact shots throughout the match, especially with the game being so close. I don't want to see the Warriors resort to milking themselves, but the Refs need to stop being baited.

Warrior of the Match

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My Warrior of the match goes to Wayde Egan. I have been critical of the hooker this season, but this was Egans best game to date in a Warriors jersey. With Lodge and AFB rolling forward, Egan could use the running game I praised back when his signing was announced. He ran for 117m, set up that nice try for O'Sullivan and was involved heavily in defence. He took a knock and didn't get to finish the game, but if he can perform to this level consistently, then the Warriors spine might be quite dangerous in 2022.

Warrior to Improve

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My Warriors to improve goes to Kodi Nikorima. Having to come on to replace Townsend in the halves was not was planned for Nikorima, and he had a start to forget, dropping the ball with his first touch. This saw him go into his shell as he offered very little after that, running the ball twice and not contributing to the kicking game. It's just not good enough for a player with his level of experience, and as harsh as it may be, I think his time with the Warriors is up; however, I don't see any club picking him up, so he will most likely be with the club next season. I think he could add something as the teams No.14, but if he needs to be relied on to replace a half, then the Warriors will be in trouble.

Next rounds thoughts and prediction

The final game of the Warriors season sees them return to Sunday afternoon football when they travel to Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast to face the Titans. The Warriors got the win in round 1, but I think the Titans will be harder this week. They still have a slim chance of making the eight, so you can expect a big performance out of them. With Townsend out, we should see Harris-Tavita and O'Sullivan combine in the halves. Hopefully, Egan is fit to start at hooker and in regards to the rest of the pack, I would move Tevaga into lock, drop Evans from the bench and put Sironen there or bring Jamayne Taunoa-Brown back. I hope the Warriors give us a great final performance here, but I think the Titans will be too strong at home, so I am picking the Titans to get the win by 10. 

Before I go, I just want to touch on the news that the Warriors may be spending the 2022 season in Australia. This would be devastating for the club and the fans here in New Zealand who have been starved of live football since August of 2019. I have my fingers crossed that this won't be the case, but it does not surprise me with everything happening on both sides of the Tasman with COVID.

There has been nothing official on this yet, so I will give more of my thoughts in a separate article once we have more information since I want to keep writing in the offseason.

So that's was an embarrassing Round 24, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your thoughts about Browns team selections?
Who was your player to improve?
Do you think another year stuck in Oz will improve the Warriors?
What is your score prediction against the Titans?