NZ Warriors Round 18 Review: Late fightback not enough as Warriors foiled by errors

After their victorious return to Mount Smart in Round 16, the Warriors had a week off before heading back across the Tasman to face the Parramatta Eels at CommBank Stadium. 

The Eels have struggled with consistency, alternating between wins and losses on a weekly basis, so I came into this match more optimistic than usual. However, it wasn't to be as the Eels took advantage of some early second-half errors from the Warriors, seeing them win 28-18, handing the Warriors their twelfth loss of the season.

As already stated, I came into this match somewhat confident that the Warriors could get a win here; I still picked the Eels to win, though, due to the Warriors missing a few players.

The Eels dominated possession in the early stages earning several repeat sets and applying plenty of pressure on the Warriors before crossing in the eleventh minute via Waqa Blake.

The Warriors looked to have scored when Chanel Harris-Tavita dived on a loose ball; however, the bunker deemed that Reece Walsh placed a fingertip on the ball first. The New Zealand side was starting to build pressure, but a Shaun Johnson cutout pass was intercepted by Maiko Sivo, who ran forty metres before sending Blake over for his second try of the night.

It took thirty minutes, but the Warriors got themselves on the scoreboard after a dubious knock-on call went against the Eels; the New Zealand side quickly shifted the ball to the left to Adam Pompey, who sent Marcelo Montoya over in the corner.

The Warriors survived a poor start to the second half after a Walsh error handed Parramatta good field position, but Montoya put a bone-rattling tackle on Clint Gutherson that saw him lose possession and his lunch.

After several errors, Parramatta found themselves in good field position, and the Warrior could not withstand the barrage any longer when Isaiah Papalii crashed his way over the line; the Eels were not done scoring on the next set after a Montoya error saw Bailey Simonsson flick the ball blindly back on the inside for Gutherson to dive on, extending their lead to sixteen.

Walsh attempted a wayward 40/20 on the third tackle, and the Eels made the Warriors pay for it after Gutherson passed the ball to Dylan Brown, who, after evading the Warriors defence, got the ball to Sivo who stormed his way to the try line from sixty metres out.

The New Zealand side showed some signs of life as the game was coming to an end scoring back-to-back tries through Ed Kosi and Jack Murchie to make the score look more respectable but were left rueing some poor attacking options as the Eels held on for a 28-18 victory.

So yes, another disappointing result here, but I think this team is showing improvements in every performance since the departure of Nathan Brown. Chances of playoffs are all but over, but I want to see these improvements continue and to have the Warriors compete every week, the next few rounds are going to be tough, and I don't want to see a return to blowout scorelines.

There were a few things to smile about this week, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

The team's attitude appears to have improved so much in a short space, the gameplan has been adjusted, and the team is responding well, leading to keeping them in the contest for the entire match.

You can just see that more of the squad are giving it their all where not so long ago; you could select a handful of players that were just going through the motions. There are still patches where the team reverts back to the old ways, so they need to work on that, but overall, it's a step in the right direction.

I thought the team's Discipline was excellent; they conceded only 3 penalties and 3 ruck infringements. That is actually quite impressive, not only because the Warriors have been getting pinged a bit this year but to win the penalty count at CommBank against the Eels is not an easy task. If the Warriors can keep their penalty count and work on a few of the negatives I bring up below, then they are always going to find themselves in a position to get the win.

I have the defence in my positives for the second review in a row. The Warriors ended the match with only 19 missed tackles. The Eels have a lot of dangerous attacking players, so keeping the defence tight for most of the game was great and further shows how the improved attitude from the players is lifting the performance. I asked that the defence effort we saw against the Tigers become the standard moving forward, and so far, it appears to be the case. There were still a few misreads that let in soft tries, but I'm confident they can iron them out.

However, I had a few concerns, which brings me to my negatives from the game.

Match Negatives

The Warriors are still making too many errors for my liking ending the match with 13. They were in this contest until they started the second half poorly, making silly errors that allowed the Eels to increase their lead. Giving a team like the Eels more opportunities with the ball by making simple errors is a surefire way to lose, and we saw that here. More respect for the ball is needed, and I'm confident they can reduce that error rate and stop me complaining about it.

Those mental lapses are still there, not as bad as before, but for a few sets in random periods of matches, the Warriors just appear to switch off; that's where the defensive lapses and errors seem to occur. It is never in the same place, so it is hard to figure out what is causing the issue. Is it poor fitness and just fatigue setting in, I'm not sure, as sometimes it happens at the start of either half. 

This also means I don't have a fix for it either, but if the squad's attitude continues to improve, I am sure we will see these lapses disappear.

The Warriors made a few poor attacking options, the Johnson cutout pass, Walsh's 40/20 attempt and a few others. On the bright side, it is good to see them trying things, but when they don't work, it puts the side in a hole, as we saw with those two options leading to Eel's tries.

I don't want to see the Warriors stop trying things, but I just want to see them make smarter decisions when the game is on a knife edge. 

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the match goes to Tohu Harris.

An almost complete performance from the Captain here, playing in the front row, he ran for 173 metres, led the side with 44 tackles, and played a part in Ed Kosi's try. The Warriors need help in the prop department, and I think Harris fits the bill nicely. I had him as a potential prop in 2023, and that may still be the case, but for the rest of this season, he needs to stay there at least; it helps take some of the pressure off Addin Fonua-Blake to do all the heavy lifting in the meter eating department. 

If he hadn't missed so much football at the beginning of the season, the Warriors might have found themselves in a better position on the ladder.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve goes to Aaron Pene.

When Pene signed with the Warriors, I was full of optimism and praise for the former Storm forward, I expected him to rise through the ranks quickly and establish himself as one of the top props in the squad, but that just hasn't happened yet. He was moved into the starting lineup but still made the least amount of running metres by any forward with only 69 metres from 8 runs. He struggles to make a dent in the defensive line, and when you have a player like Jazz Tevaga moving into prop and running over 100metres, you really need to wonder if Pene is up to the task of being a first-grade regular. I love my props, so I am biased, but I expect to see Pene hit the ground running next season and show that my expectations of him as a player were not unfounded.

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round 19 sees the Warriors remain in Australia, heading to the Capital to face the Canberra Raiders, who defeated the Storm 20-16 in Round 18. It should be a tough encounter as the Raiders continue to try and claw their way into the top eight.

Regarding the team I would pick, I would be happy to keep the backline the same except for Dallin Watene-Zeleaniak returning for Ed Kosi (who I thought had a solid outing), and I would still like to see Euan Aitken replace Adam Pompey in the centres. I think Harris-Tavita has done enough to stay in the halves but could also agree with Ronald Volkman returning since he needs more minutes to prepare for next season.

Forwards I would also keep the same with Harris in as prop, and I would move Bunty Afoa to the starting lineup, replacing Pene. I like AFB coming off the bench right now, so he stays there, and the rest of the bench stays the same for me; I will keep Pene there to give him a shot at showing improvement.

Playing in Canberra is never easy, and the Raiders have dangerous players all over the park, so the Warrior's defence will need to be at its best. I expect another lift from the Warriors here, but I think the Raiders will be too strong in front of their home crowd, so I am picking the Raiders to win by 8.

Since the last time I wrote, the Warriors announced that Andrew Webster will be the new Head Coach in 2023. I have spoken about it on my show, The Stand-Off (every Wednesday at 8pm NZ time on Facebook) and also as a guest on Roo & Hammer's show; it's hard to predict what will happen.

I am hopeful that it is a good move, and I'm sure I will cover that more later this year in my season review and my 2023 season preview, so watch this space.

So that was a disappointing but hopeful Round 18, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your thoughts on the Webster signing?

Would you make any changes to the game day 17?

How do you think the Coaching staff can stop the metal lapses the side keeps making?

What is your score prediction against the Raiders?