NZ Warriors Round 20 Review: Another week, another Warriors second-half collapse as Storm end losing streak

After their disappointing loss to the Raiders in Round 19, the Warriors return to home soil to face the Melbourne Storm. Despite a close first half, the Warriors could not keep up with the Storm, and for the first time in a while, I actually got my prediction correct with the Storm winning this one by twelve with the final score being 24-12.

What Went Down

With two penalties against Nelson Asofa-Solomona in the opening three minutes of play, the Warriors were gifted field position early into this match. With starting hooker Wayde Egan an early casualty with a jaw injury off the back of the second Asofa-Solomona dangerous tackle penalty, the home side could not convert their weight of possession into points.

Eventually, it was passive goal-line defence from the Warriors that saw Justin Olam slot straight through and open up the scoring off a pass from Cameron Munster during Melbourne’s first set inside the Warrior's red zone.

Hitting back, the Warriors managed to cross for their first points following another Melbourne penalty. A Harbour Bridge pass from five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tevita saw Edward Kosi capitalise on an overlap on the left edge.

After picking out the man with the injured knee in Harris-Tevita, Melbourne crossed for their second of the evening. It was a neat series of passes that both started and ended with Harry Grant, with touches from Jahrome Hughes and Felise Kaufusi in between, that saw the Melbourne hooker fall over the line to take the lead for his side once again.

In almost identical fashion to their first try, the Warriors once again crossed on the left edge with a double for Kosi. Replacing Harris-Tevita from their first try for the assist, it was Egan that threw the looping pass that allowed his winger to slide in for his second meat pie of the evening and make it a two-point game heading into half-time.

Right off the kick-off for the second half, Melbourne was back to business. It was a quick play from dummy half from Grant – whilst essentially on top of the Warriors’ try-line – that put Hughes through a large gap and over the mark for the first points of the second 40.

A deep shift to the right edge saw Grant Anderson put in a perfectly weighted kick for replacement fullback Nick Meaney to time his run and plant the ball down in the in-goal for Melbourne’s second try in a row. 

Originally sent up to The Bunker as “no try”, a quick review showed the put down from Meaney was legitimate.

In yet another duplicate of the first two tries, Kosi went over for his hat-trick. Halfback Shaun Johnson was the man to throw the pass this time, leaving Kosi to do what he had already done twice before.

Despite utilising two kickers in Reece Walsh and Johnson, the inability to nail conversions hurt the Warriors, finishing the match 12 points behind the Storm after missing all three conversion attempts.

My Thoughts

So the losing streak against the Storm extends to thirteen.

 I wasnt surprised; despite the form slump the Storm has been in, they are never an easy team to face, and if you compare this loss to the previous sixty-point defeat on ANZAC day, then it wasnt too bad. However, a loss is still a loss, and the Warriors were in this match for the first 40 (much like last week) but left the door wide open for the Storm to take control, and they refused to let the Warriors get back into the contest. 

Overall though, I think the Warriors showed further improvements and played well in patches; they just need to keep building and play for the whole 80 as they have another tough clash this week against the Rabbitohs.

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

Match Positives

I thought the front rowers stood up, led by Tohu Harris (190m), Addin Fonua-Blake (138m) and Bunty Afoa (106m), also kept the pressure on the Storm middle, although I felt that AFB had less impact than I expect and I'm not sure if he has an injury or just in a rut. Jackson Frei had a limited stint towards the end of the match, and I liked what I saw from him, so hopefully, he gets more time on the field sooner rather than later. 

The Warriors will find themselves in a better place if they have four props that can hit the triple-digit running metres, bending that defensive line but the coaches need to ensure they are rotated correctly to keep them all fresh. 

I have requested more respect for the ball the past few weeks, and we saw that with the Warriors only making six errors in this match. They still chanced their arm from time to time, and it did work with those big cutout passes, but they played smarter with fewer 50/50 plays. I want to see them play more like this for the rest of the season as they can score points without playing risky football all the time; there is a time and place for it, so it's good to have in the back pocket, but they need to improve their basics first.

With CHT having to go off injured, the Warriors moved Wayde Egan into the halves, and I thought he did a great job; I know he has experience in the halves in his younger days but playing there in first grade is another level. He looked composed, put on a few good passes and didn't look out of his depth. It doesn't mean I want to see him moved to the halves by any means, but I was impressed by his effort out there, especially after having his teeth cracked by Nelson Asofa-Solomona in the early stages of the match.

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

Match Negatives

The defence is back in the negatives; the Warriors missed 31 tackles in this match; they showed some good defence in patches, but when the Storm applied pressure and had repeat sets, the Warriors just fell off. It has been an ongoing trend all season, and I have repeated time and time again that their attitude and trust in each other needs to get better if the defence is to improve. It just feels like it's one step forward and two steps back when it comes to their defensive structure.

The injury to CHT was a massive blow; with this season being potentially the final time that he plays in the NRL, I would have liked to see him finish the season healthy, but with a suspected MCL injury, it looks like his season is done. A massive shame for the young man, but at least it means the Warriors can give that open halves spot to one of the young players that could potentially be taking that spot over in 2023 (depending on if Asi gets a new deal or if Te Maire Martin signs as all rumours indicate)

I wasnt happy with the interchange rotation now, the Warriors weren't helped by injuries and HIA's, but I feel like Stacey Jones and the coaching staff are not using their bench to the best of their abilities; I think giving Jackson Frei only 14 minutes didn't really help anyone. The Raiders and the Storm displayed excellent use of the bench the past two matches, and it could just be down to inexperience from Jones, but hopefully, we see some smart changes being used in the season's final five games.

Lastly, the officials and, more importantly, the match review committee. I think that Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Josh King were lucky not to be sin-binned, and Graham Annesley has come out and said that he believes NAS should have been sent to the bin. However, since then, the match review committee has come out and cleared both players and then sighted Jackson Frei and fined him. I just want to see the NRL have some consistency as players doing the same thing last week have been suspended. I don't want to say it's because they were Storm players or because it was in a match against the Warriors, but it doesn't look great. Just have the same rules and punishments for all clubs and players.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the match goes to Ed Kosi.

It's fair to say I have been critical of Kosi so far in his short career and was partially savage after his horrid showing against the Storm in Round 7. 

However, I thought he was terrific here, the Storm targeted him all night with kicks, and he made no errors; he ran for 136m and scored his first ever hat-trick. He still looked a bit lost in defence at times, but I saw enough from him not to worry when he is named on the wing. The key is for Kosi to set this level of performance as his baseline and build on it. If anything, it could give the Warriors a chance to drop my Warrior to improve.

Warrior to Improve

For the second week in a row, my Warrior to improve goes to Adam Pompey.

I don't know what else I can say after what I wrote last week, and I just don't get what the Warriors coaching staff see in Pompey right now, half-hearted runs, inept defensive reads at times and the ability to make an error at the drop of a hat. He is a big body, and if he ran like Marcelo Montoya, I believe he could be a dangerous player; however, we just haven't seen it, so I would be dropping him from the starting 17.

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round 21 sees the Warriors fly over to the Central Coast to face a Rabbitohs side that went down 21-20 in Golden Point against the Sharks in Round 20.

Regarding the team, I would pick; in the backs; I would bring Jesse Arthars in for Adam Pompey and bring Ronald Volkman in for CHT (I like Asi, but he fades out in the backend of games). In the forwards, I would be happy to keep them as named for this match. The bench I would also keep the same.

Souths have been at another level since Latrell Mitchell's return, and this match will be tough. The Warriors will need to be at their best and shut Mitchell down. I don't like their chances, and I'm worried about a big defeat here. I will try to be optimistic and pick the Rabbitohs to win by 18

.So that was a disheartening Round 20, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Who would you bring in for CHT?

Do you see the Warriors getting another win this season?

How can the Warriors fix their second-half performance drops?

What is your score prediction against the Rabbitohs?