NZ Warriors 2023 Round 4 Review: Warriors Defensive Mindset Too Much For Bulldogs

After last week's victory over the Cowboys, the Warriors returned to Mount Smart Stadium for the first time in 2023 to face the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

In front of a vocal crowd, I found it hard to see the Warriors not walk away with the win here. Still, it was a lot closer than I expected, with the Warriors trailing the whole game until Shaun Johnson came up clutch in the 66th minute with the try that ended being the match winner with the Warriors getting their third win of the season in a nailbiting 16-14 win.

What Went Down

Both teams ran out 1-17, as named on Tuesday, with a bumper New Zealand crowd on hand.

The Bulldogs muscled up in their first defensive set and backed it up with a try in their first attacking raid, with Dally M leader Jacob Kiraz crossing in the corner from a Jake Averillo flick pass.

Matt Burton converted the try and added two more points from a penalty goal not long after to make it 8-0.

An arm wrestle ensued until Reed Mahoney kicked a pinpoint 40/20 to put the Bulldogs on attack, but it came to nothing.

Down the other end of the field, a hard-running Viliami Vailea crossed from a scrum to put the Warriors on the board. Shaun Johnson’s conversion made it 8-6.

A game mostly played in the middle; neither side had many chances as the clock rolled down to half-time.

In their first set of the second half, Bulldogs interchange Nu Brown seemingly broke his arm in a sickening fall.

The Warriors had an Adam Pompey try disallowed before Josh Addo-Carr raced 95 metres to score from the scrum. Burton’s conversion extended the score to 14-6.

The news got worse for the Warriors, who lost Tohu Harris shortly after to a knee injury.

Five sets in a row on the Bulldog's Goal-line took its toll eventually, with Vailea offloading to send Marcelo Montoya over in the corner. Johnson missed from the sideline to keep the gap at four points.

It was a real arm wrestle in the middle, and it took some Shaun Johnson magic to break through, touching down under the posts and converting for a 16-14 lead.

Some brilliant goal-line defence from the Warriors spoiled a Bulldogs comeback, who tried desperately to crash over but couldn’t crack the line.

An entertaining end saw the Bulldogs push for points without luck as the home side hung on for a nail-biting win.

My Thoughts

Well, that was a nerve-racking game to watch; first of all, it was great to be back watching footy at Mount Smart, and with a triple header, I was able to go and watch the SG Ball and NSW Cup before the Warriors match which was fantastic as we haven't had a lot of chances to watch the younger talent and I think there are a few that we will see in First Grade in a sooner or later.

However, back to the big game, The Bulldogs had me worried, they started quick, which is a trend in Warriors games recently, and it looked like they may have been able to hold onto their narrow lead as time was running out. When Adam Pompey's try was denied by the bunker, I felt like the Warrior's day may have been over, but they dug deep and kept plugging away until Shaun spotted the gap and was away. The day wasnt over at that point, though, as the Bulldogs spent several sets camped on the Warrior's line. I started to have flashbacks from the past few seasons when the Warriors would let a game slip in the dying stages, but this is not what the 2023 side does, and they tackled their hearts out, and the Bulldogs started to make mistakes.

This may have been the closest win in 2023, but it is one I am very proud of; the team still has plenty to work on, but that comes with a new squad in the early stages of the season, but there is so much to be happy with and makes me confident that this Warriors side will be competitive. 

The forwards are doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but this makes Johnson and Te Maire Martin's jobs easier, and the attack is starting to click with a few more link plays beginning to come together. You could see the team missed Wayde Egan, but Freddy Lussick did a fine job in his place, but a healthy Egan will make the Warriors more dangerous.

So the Warriors keep themselves in the top four for the second week in a row, a place I can honestly say I did not see them being, and if they keep defending the way they have been, they may be there for a while, which as a fan makes me so excited for what's to come this season.

Before I move on, I want to address the SJ try; I know plenty of people on the other side of Tasman are complaining that it should have been ruled obstruction and not given, but I think AFB was a support runner and could not vanish and he also didn't change his line, so it was play on for me. 

It was another good performance to be proud of, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

That Warriors defence is legit, there were still a few defensive misreads which led to some soft tries, but when push came to shove, the players were there for each other and defended that try line as if their lives depended on it. The Bulldogs had more than their fair share of attempts at the Warrior's line, but they could not find a way through when it mattered.

It's a beautiful sight to watch the match live and see the Warriors constantly talking to each other, plugging holes and not giving up; that desire to not let anyone down will lead to big things.

As I keep saying, it's early days in the season, but as the cliche says, defence wins championships, and the Warriors will make it tough for any team to score points, making a finals run much more feasible.  

The forwards had another big day, not as big as the Cowboys clash, but four of the pack ran for over 100m (Addin Fonua-Blake - 148m, Jazz Tevaga - 145m, Dylan Walker - 143 and Jackson Ford - 109m), and while the rest didn't hit the triple digits they were all playing their part. When Marata Niukore had to come off the field for a spell, and then Tohu Harris left the park with a knee injury, you could have expected to see the Warriors lose a step, but they just didn't, it all comes back to the same attitude that they have on defence, this next up mentality is paying off (although I hope Harris is ok and will be available against the Sharks).  

Lastly, just being back at Mount Smart, there was a decent vocal crowd, and I love being back at live matches. Hopefully, the crowds keep showing up this year as the Warriors are building something special, and packed-out home games should give them a slight edge with 50/50 calls (not that we saw that in this contest for the most part).

However, one thing concerned me, bringing me to my negative from the game.

Match Negative

For the fourth week in a row, the Warriors allowed their opponents to score inside the first five minutes. This is now a habit and one that the Coaching staff need to fix; Andrew Webster approached the subject in his post-match interview and said it has been something they have been working on at training and doing well but come gameday, it seems to not work, so they would be working on it further. It is still better than the old Warriors that switched off at the end of games, but if they don't sort out those starts, they will come across an opponent that will start quick and never give them a chance to get back into the match. I have faith in Webster, and I'm sure it will be fixed sooner rather than later.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the match goes to Shaun Johnson.

Shaun Johnson has always had his fair share of critics (myself included), but I think he has been building nicely this season, and he reaped the rewards in this match; I already mentioned the match-winning try, but the rest of his game was top notch too, he ran for 79 metres, he was putting his players into gaps leading to two line-break assists and a try assist, his kicking game was on point once again. His defensive effort was one of the best I have seen from him. With Viliame Kikau running at him all day, he weathered the storm and ended the match with 20 tackles with no misses. He is in a better frame of mind this season, and I think he will go from strength to strength. The best is yet to come from SJ, just keep letting that spine gel, and he will shine.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve goes to Bayley Sironen.

It was hard to pick a player this week, but I have gone with Sironen; he did nothing wrong; it's fair to say he had 2 runs for 8 metres and made 16 tackles with only 1 miss, but with Josh Curran sitting on the sidelines, I feel like Siro hasn't added enough to the gameday 17 to warrant his inclusion. 

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round five sees the Warriors head back to New South Wales to face a Sharks side that looked dangerous with Nicho Hynes back, dominating the Dragons in a 40-8 victory.

Regarding the team, I would pick; I would bring back Mitchell Barnett and Wayde Egan if they are healthy and Josh Curran in for Sironen. If Harris is ruled out of this match, I would put either Barnett or Curran into that lock position. The backs I would keep the same.

This will be the Warrior's most formidable challenge to date and a true indicator of where this team is; a Sharks team with their star halfback at the helm fresh of a big win is a tough ask.

I'm confident the Warriors will deliver a ton of effort in this match, but unfortunately, the Sharks at home will still be a struggle, so I am picking the Sharks to win a close one by 10.

So that was a great Round 4, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What changes, if any, would you make to the Gameday 17?

Who was your Player of the day?

How do we fix these slow starts?

What is your score prediction against the Sharks?

NZ Warriors 2023 Round 3 Review: Warriors Impressive in Second Half Shutout

After last week's defeat to the Roosters, the Warriors stayed across the Tasman moving to North Queensland to face the Cowboys.

With a few players out and another week in hot conditions, I wasnt that confident in the Warriors getting the job done, but they proved me wrong with one of their best performances in some time, walking away with a 26-12 victory.

What Went Down

The Cowboys started the better of the two sides, and it was one of the new fullbacks that got the scoring off to a start with Tom Chester getting on the end of a ricocheting in goal kick from Chad Townsend after the home side marched up the field off the back of Wayde Egan giving away six again.

With Robson finding joy through in and around the markers, the Cowboys continued to dominate on the front foot, but it was the Warriors who got over the try line next, with Egan gathering an Addin Fonua-Blake offload to crawl over and score despite being tackled before the line.

The Cowboys tested the Warriors’ debutant fullback, Taine Tuaupiki, with high bombs – which he handled well – but a small chip to the middle of the pitch saw Tom Chester get the better of Tuaupiki for the ball to drop to Reece Robson to run in under the sticks unchallenged. The ensuing Valentine Holmes conversion made the scores 12-6 with just 15 minutes played.

The Cowboys broke down their left edge soon after, but a desperate Warriors defence managed to hold the home side out and avoid back-to-back scores. The game continued in an end-to-end fashion on the ensuing set for the Warriors, with Marcelo Montoya held up down the Cowboys’ end, having started the set on their own try line.

Sustained pressure wrestled the game back in the Warriors’ favour, and unforced errors from the Cowboys continued to invite The New Zealand side to attack. They attacked with ease and pierced the Cowboys’ defence twice in quick succession, first through Montoya and then through Jazz Tevaga – who crossed with ease through the frail Cowboys’ middle to take the lead 12-16 and go into half-time in control of the game.

The Cowboys’ frail defence continued in the second half, and just under 10 minutes in, they allowed the Warriors to march up the field with ease and score in the corner off the back of an impressive carry and offload by Adam Pompey. Shortly after the try, Reece Robson invited more pressure on his side by letting go of the ball when trying to milk a penalty from the referee; the Cowboys even challenged the knock-on decision and consequently wasted their challenge for the game.

The Warriors easily attacked the ensuing set and forced a set restart – which the Cowboys desperately defended while looking much the worse side of the two. The home side struggled to bring the ball out from their own end, clearly out-enthused by the travelling Warriors, which they eventually converted into a penalty 40 metres out. The Warriors turned down the opportunity of two points to extend their lead to 12 and instead opted to run the penalty.

They easily broke down the Cowboy's defence and earned another penalty, this time more kickable. However, the visitors again decided to run, given the Cowboys’ defence resembling a turnstile. The decision paid off, and Montoya crossed again on the left wing to make the score 26-12 in favour of the Warriors.

The Cowboys managed to get some good ball possession, and Shibasaki knocked on in the act of trying to score, only to be saved his blushes by the referee, who gave a penalty for offside. The Cowboys couldn’t make use of the penalty, with Tom Chester looking the most likely to cross before Jeremiah Nanai got on the end of an overpowered Townsend kick-in goal, only for it to be too deep to ground in the field of play.

More errors stunted a comeback from the home side, and the Warriors continued to attack to great effect, moving the Cowboy's defence around at will though to no impact on the scoreboard. Given their extensive lead, the Warriors began to switch off and make unforced errors, inviting the Cowboys for a comeback. They couldn’t make use of the gifted possessions, however, and the Warriors took an impressive 26-12 victory away from Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

My Thoughts

Finally, the 13-match losing streak on Australian soil is over, and it was the best game I have seen from the club since 2018. As I said last week, I wouldn't be surprised if the Warriors got the win here (despite wrongly predicting the Cowboys to win), but it was how the Warriors played that caught me off-guard. They looked clinical and ticked most of the boxes for a performance of a top-four side. The forwards dominated the middle, and the backs all looked threatening; Taine Tuaupiki looked solid out the back on debut, and this was the first time we saw SJ and TMM start to work together well this season. They had a shaky start which has become the 2023 norm (more on that later), but for the final 60 minutes of the match, the Warriors barely put a foot wrong and would have made a few clubs take notice. It's still early in the season, so we can't afford to get ahead of ourselves. Still, after a few years of struggling to look forward to game day and worrying about what we would have to watch the team serve up weekly, it's just fantastic to see this side play positive football. I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but 2023 could be a better season than I predicted in my preseason preview. 

Were the Warriors perfect? No, but I see building improvements each week, and this side could be a dangerous unit once everything clicks, which excites me for the future.

It was the best performance I have seen from the Warriors in some time, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

The forwards did well here; six ran for over 100 metres (Dylan Walker - 157m, Addin Fonua-Blake - 144m, Tohu Harris - 142m, Mitch Barnett and Jazz Tevaga - 140m), which is the Brad PassMark. When the big boys do their job up front, it makes life easier for the backline, allowing Shaun Johnson and Te Maire Martin more time and freedom to get things in motion. If the pack can deliver along these lines every week, the Warriors will be hard to face.

Man, the defence has been fantastic this season; such a 180 from the garbage I complained about weekly last year. The Cowboys fired plenty of shots, but the Warriors kept pushing them back, keeping them from scoring a point for the final 67 minutes of the match. To keep the Cowboys out for that long with the number of weapons they have at their disposal is a massive achievement, especially in an away game in sweltering conditions. I love using the cliche of defence being all about attitude, but this was on full display in this performance, with every Warrior refusing to let their teammates down. Love seeing this so much, and makes me more confident of a win each and every week.

The way the Warriors closed this game out was on point and the thing that impressed me the most. Despite a few silly errors, the Warriors played smart football, kicking to the corners and forcing the Cowboys to start each set deep in their own half, forcing them to take risks to try and get back into the contest; its refreshing as these tactics usually are never in the Warriors playbook, and it just shows that they are a more complete side and if they are in a close game, they have the tools to ensure they can cement a narrow hard-fought win.

However, there were a handful of things that concerned me, bringing me to my negatives from the game.

Match Negatives

For the third week in a row, the Warriors allowed their opponents to score inside the first five minutes. I'm starting to fear that this isn't a fluke and is, in fact, an issue. It has yet to make the games unwinnable by any stretch however giving any NRL side an easy start is a dangerous gamble. Now the two tries the Cowboys scored could be described as lucky but handing them those opportunities is something the Warriors can control. I am still determining how they fix the starts, but I'm sure Andrew Webster and co discuss it weekly.

The Warrior's attack looked clunky and disorganized the closer they got to the Cowboy's try line. With a bit more room, the Warriors looked dangerous, but reducing the space saw the Warriors go into their shell a bit and rely on one outrunning. Not ideal when they find themselves in a tight tussle with the game on the line, but I think this will improve in time; the link plays between Johnson, TMM, and Dylan Walker were starting to work, and I expect to not have to discuss this in my negatives in a few rounds.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the match goes to Jazz Tevaga.

What a return for Tevaga; playing 64 minutes, he ran for 140 metres, made 32 tackles and scored a nice try. I know many people were trying to figure out where and how he would be used in the gameday 17 with the signing of Dylan Walker, but I always saw Jazz being used in the middle, which is what happened here. His smaller stature does not prevent him from going toe to toe with some of the big boppers in the NRL, and he is tough and plays with heart and passion. Great to see him hit the ground running after his injury, and I expect a big year for him. Congratulations on the return, Jazz, and big props to you for what you are doing for your mate Roman Tuhimata with the money you are raising.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve goes to Bunty Afoa.

Now I don't know if Afoa got a knock. However, he only played the first 17 minutes and didn't have much of an impact running for 37 metres; this was from 3 carries, so he was at least running just over 10 metres a carry which is putting him on the right track for a 100+ running metre game, but he just didn't find 2nd gear. 16 minutes isn't a lot of time, but Tom Ale got only an extra 5 minutes compared to Afoa (22 minutes) and ran for 120 metres. I'm a fan of Afoa, but if he doesn't lift his effort, he will lose his spot to one of the many Warriors forwards waiting to return.

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round four sees the Warriors return to Mt Smart for the first time in the 2023 campaign to face the Bulldogs, who survived a Tigers second-half comeback to win 26-22.

Regarding the team, I would pick, much like I have said in the previous two rounds, I would stick with the same side. 

This will be a tough match; the Bulldogs have a great roster and have shown glimpses of how dangerous they can be but have struggled with their handling errors. If the Warrior's forward pack delivers for the second week in a row, and that defensive line contains Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr and not to forget, this will be the first match played at Mount Smart, and it should have a decent crowd so this all points towards a Warriors win so I am picking them to win by 12.

So that was a fantastic Round 3, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Would you make any changes to the gameday 17?

Three rounds in, do you think the Warriors are a finals side?

How would you fix the slow starts if you were in charge?

What is your score prediction against the Bulldogs?

NZ Warriors 2023 Round 2 Review: Injury Hit Warriors rue errors in Sydney Scorcher

 After last week's victory over the Knights, the Warriors made their first trip across the Tasman to face the Sydney Roosters in a blazing Allianz Stadium.

Up against a depleted forward pack, I had confidence that the Warriors could walk away with the win; however it wasnt to be, as injuries and schoolboy errors saw the side go down 20-12 in their first defeat of 2023.

What Went Down

The Roosters scored first through Jaxson Paulo in the fourth minute – touching down in the right-hand corner after the Roosters spread the footy close to the line. Their numbers were too much for the Warriors.

A Sam Walker penalty in the 11th minute pushed the Roosters’ lead to 8-0.

But the Warriors hit back through Wayde Egan, cutting the score to 8-6, which became the Roosters’ half-lead.

The Roosters put the foot down in the second half, with Paulo’s second try and one to Walker (after a big break from Joseph Suaalii) pushing their lead out to 18-6 with 20 minutes left.

The Warriors kept coming, scoring through Addin Fonua-Blake to close the gap to 18-12.

Bayley Sironen nearly tied the scores five minutes later but was stopped by James Tedesco five metres out.

Another Walker penalty (for a personal haul of 12 points) pushed the Roosters out to safety at 20-12.

My Thoughts

This was a tough match to watch; despite the many injuries, weather, and repeat six again calls against them, the Warriors were in the hunt for the entire match, and if they could have iced a few critical moments in the game, then I may well be writing about a win here, but that is footy.

When the final whistle blew, I was livid at the performance and struggled to look at the good things that happened, and after some time and another viewing of the game, I came into this review more clear-headed.

This side did not have a great outing, but the platform that Andrew Webster and co have built in the preseason was still present; while the Roosters had plenty of forwards missing, their backline was still full of dangerous threats, and the Warriors were able to contain them for large portions of the match. As I said in my season preview, the first ten rounds are brutal, and if the Warriors can stay competitive and take these sides to the limit, I would be happy, and that's what we saw here. Yes, this was a match they could have easily won, however, the things that let the side down are fixable, so I am confident that if the Warriors find themselves in this situation again, they will get the job done.

It wasnt the best performance, but I did find a few things to smile about, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

The attack isn't as dangerous as it could be yet, but we did get to see glimpses of what it could be. Egans try was an excellent play with some good movement from Te Maire Martin and Shaun Johnson. SJ also started to make inroads with some inside balls to his forwards, which led to their second try when Marata Niukore took that inside ball before sending Addin Fonua-Blake over under the sticks. The potential is there; if the combinations get time to gel, we will see more points.

The Roosters spent large portions of this match in the Warrior's red zone and found themselves earning repeat six again calls, but the Warrior's goal-line defence held firm and refused to give away soft tries; if the Warriors could start defending in a similar matter everywhere else on the field, it will certainly help as the Roosters made plenty of breaks in the middle of the pitch and could have scored more points if they didn't keep making errors.

Once again, I have to praise the resilience of this side, at times it felt like everything was going against the side, players getting ruled out, scorching hot weather, and some bad calls from the officials, but the Warriors continued to have a dig for the entire match, I don't even think I could count how many times in the past we have seen the Warriors simply just throw in the towel when the going got tough, so this new mentality that the Warriors have is going to keep them in the hunt more often than not and should lead to grinding out more wins, which will make my reviews a bit more enjoyable to write.

However, there were also a few things that concerned me, bringing me to my negatives from the game.

Match Negatives

The schoolboy errors were coach killers; the Warriors made 10 unforced errors, but it was more the mistakes that cost the Warriors chances at scoring that hurt me. The bombed try after Wayde Egan broke the line and passed to Bayley Sironen, Sironen could have got the ball back to Egan for a near certain try, but he couldn't get the pass away, and in his defence; Egan overran him and wasnt in the best spot to receive the ball. The worst moment for me was when Ed Kosi played the ball close to the Rooster's line, and there was no one at dummy half, which saw the Roosters survive again. This is an absolute no-no, and we should not see this happen again. As I said earlier, the Warriors can fix these things, so I'm hopeful I won't have to write about this again (fingers crossed).

Unfortunately, injuries happen; it just can't be helped; however, the Warriors were dealt a heavy blow by losing Jackson Ford in the opening stages before also losing Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to failed HIA's. They also lost Josh Curran in the 62nd minute with a hip pointer injury. This saw the side activate their 18th man Bayley Sironen, but it's never great when key injuries force the spine to be adjusted. It's still too early to know the extent of the injuries and if the Warriors will be able to have these players back for Round three, but hopefully, they will be ok to play.

Lastly, the team's discipline did not help them in this match; they conceded eight penalties, four ruck infringements and two inside 10 metres calls. While I praised the team's resilience, it will make life easier for them if they can play to the officials whistle better and reduce the penalties and six-again calls. They were a bit hard-done-by with some of the calls, but that is just a day in the life of being a Warrior's side and adjusting to the official that is calling the game should even things up.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the match goes to Tohu Harris.

The Captain struck again in another 80-minute performance; he ran for 144 metres and made 60 tackles and all of that in blistering conditions. He is full of heart and will always give it 100%, and as much as I love seeing this big effort from Harris, I am not sure he is going to be able to keep this up for an entire season, so he will need his other forwards to start putting their hands up and help him out.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve goes to Adam Pompey.

Pompey may not have had the worse game on the planet and was up against Joseph Suaalii, who was a constant threat all game; however there wasnt much to praise either, he ran solid enough, making 96 metres, but I believe he should have been the player at dummy-half when Kosi played the ball and was not paying enough attention at that time and when someone makes a mighty mistake like that they automatically make this section. Hard to say if Andrew Webster will persevere with him or if we will see Viliami Vailea make his return to first grade.

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round three sees the Warriors stay across the ditch to face the Cowboys, who went down 28-16 to the Broncos in Round two.

Regarding the team I would pick, assuming that all injured players are ready to go, I would stick with the same side, except swapping Pompey out for Vailea.

This will be yet another tough match; the Cowboys will be looking for a big bounceback but will also be without Peta Hiku and Scott Drinkwater after both players enter early guilty pleas. These are significant losses, but this does not make winning any easier. The Warriors will need to ensure that they keep their error rate low and will need enormous efforts from Fonua-Blake and Mitch Barnett up front if they are to have a shot at getting the two points. 

I won't be surprised if the Warriors get the job done, but the Cowboys are tough to beat at home, so I am going with a Cowboys win by 10.

So that was a frustrating Round 2, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Would you make any changes to the gameday 17?

Which player do you think is the most at risk of being dropped?

How would you eliminate the schoolboy errors if you were in charge?

What is your score prediction against the Cowboys?

NZ Warriors 2023 Round 1 Review: Resilience Shines Through in Capital Win

With the preseason officially behind us, the NRL is back, and Round 1 saw the Warriors start their campaign hosting the Newcastle Knights in Wellington at Sky Stadium.

I was optimistic but cautious heading into this match and had plenty of time to think about what Warriors team would show up during my long drive from Auckland to Wellington; however, despite a slow start, the Warriors relieved my cautious thoughts and got the job done with a 20-12 victory.

What Went Down

The wind played havoc early as Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad dropped a swirling bomb in this own half. In the next set, Kalyn Ponga threw a short ball to his backrower Lachlan Fitzgibbon for the game's first try.

After 25 minutes of tense back and forth, the Warriors hit back. Mitch Barnett made a break off a no-look pass from Tohu Harris. On the next play, the late replacement Ed Kosi scored in the corner. Following the try, the momentum swung in favour of the Warriors. The ensuing Knights kick-off went out on the full, which led directly to a barnstorming try by Bunty Afoa.

Showing plenty of energy in attack, the Warriors took a 10-6 lead into the halftime break.

The Knights opened the second half with plenty of vigour. With the wind at their backs, they had the Warriors under pressure early. Eventually, the pressure proved too much, as some silky hands from Kalyn Ponga and Bradman Best set up a try for Hymel Hunt. Despite taking the lead back, poor ball control from the Knights let the Warriors off the hook.

With the pressure off, the Warriors wrestled back momentum. Surging into the lead, the home side scored through Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad and followed up with another attacking raid. However, it didn't result in any points despite Phoenix Crossland being sin-binned for consecutive penalties. A highlight of the Warrior's desperate defence was a try-saver from Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad that kept the home side ahead 14-12.

Tensions rose as Kalyn Ponga was forced to leave the field for an HIA. Not long after Ponga departed, the game was decided by a sharp try from dummy half by Wade Egan. He caught the Knights napping to seal a hard-fought eight-point win.

My Thoughts

Well, it's always great to start the year with a win, I have been counting down the days until kick-off, but the closer it got, the more worried I became. The Knights were always a team I had marked down that the Warriors would be able to defeat, but on team naming Tuesday, Newcastle named a tough side. On the long drive to Wellington, I played out many scenarios in my head, but ultimately the tight tussle I predicted came to pass.

Was it the best performance? No, but there were way more positives to pull from this match than negatives, and this was a great platform for the clubs to start their 2023 campaign on.

All the players performed well, there were a few patches where simple mistakes let some players down, but overall they all made up for them as the game progressed.

I spoke in my season preview about what Andrew Webster has done so far in the preseason, and I become a stronger believer each week. It's only early days, but the roster is buying into Webster, and this should only lead to good things.

If you watched the video the Warriors released showing the debutants and Webster getting acknowledged before the match, you could see how much it means to all of them to be with the club and be part of the solution that makes this club competitive again, which is so refreshing in comparison to the past few years where you could see that some of the players were only there collecting paychecks.

While I still have concerns with how tough the first ten Rounds are, we all got to see that this Warriors side is willing to have a dig, so my concerns may start to dwindle.

Before I move on, I just want to say how great it was to be back at a live NRL match; I know we got a few last year, but now it just feels real; the Warriors are actually home, and the Crowd was fantastic, would it have been great to have the first match of the year at Mount Smart, of course, but when the stadium is already booked you have to be flexible, and I love making my trip down to Sky Stadium. I haven't watched a Warriors team lose there, so I would be happy to have it become an annual event.

It was a decent start to the season, which means I found a few things to smile about, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

The new signings made an impact; Mitchell Barnett, Dylan Walker, Brayden Wiliame and Marata Niukore, all put their hands up in this match in varying capacities, but the ones I want to discuss are Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Jackson Ford.

CNK had probably the worst start to his Warriors return, failing to defuse his first kick of the night, but after that moment, everything else was great; he was always lurking around the pack just waiting for an offload; he defended well, including his try-saver on Kalyn Ponga, and his try was a good display of his support play. As a person who was disappointed in his exit from the club years ago, I am glad that he has returned, and I expect a big year from him.

Jackson Ford was excellent; I was quoted on my show, The Stand-Off, last year, joking about this Dragons player that the Warriors had picked up and dismissed him before giving him a shot, and since the first trial match, he has made me look like an idiot, and I think it is going to take some effort to get that starting spot off him. He looked dangerous with the ball in hand, defended well and never looked tired despite playing the whole 80; a great find by the club and I apologize to Ford for doubting his talent.

The Warrior's goal-line defence was much better than what we became use to in 2022; there were sections of the match where the Knights were camped in the Warrior's red zone with repeat six agains, and the Warriors kept them out. It's cliche, and I've said it many times, but defence is built on attitude, and it's good to see that has improved over the offseason. I want to see this remain throughout the season, especially against those top-tier sides. 

Lastly, the resilience and patience the Warriors showed were what made me proud of the result. This was a game that the Warriors would have lost in 2022, but this is a different outfit, and with the game on the line in the final stages, the Warriors didn't fold and kept pushing forward, and it was the Knights that imploded. As Webster said this is something that he wants to be embedded in the Warrior's DNA, and I really hope that happens.

However, there was one thing that concerned me, bringing me to my game negative.

Match Negative

There wasnt much, to be honest, but the slow starts to both halves hurt; letting in two soft tries in the opening stages of the halves could have set the Warriors on the path to defeat, thankfully that didn't happen, I'm not sure if it something wrong with their preparation, nerves or something else but hopefully they figure it out before this weekends clash against the Roosters.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the match goes to Wayde Egan.

This may have been the best game I have seen from Egan; he delivered the ball nicely out of the ruck including a great short ball to Bunty Afoa to crash over, picked the right moments to sneak out of dummy half, which led to his nice try at the backend of the match. All of this while still contributing defensively with 33 tackles and only two misses. Hopefully, this is a benchmark performance from Egan because if he can deliver like this every week, then the Warrior's chances of nabbing wins become that much easier.

Warrior to Improve

I couldn't pick a Warrior to improve this week, they all did a good job out there, and I couldn't pinpoint anyone that let the side down, and some did not get the required minutes to review their performance.

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round two sees the Warriors head across the ditch to Allianz Stadium to face a Roosters side that was defeated 28-18 by the Dolphins in the first Round.

Regarding the team I would pick, I would keep it exactly the same; I wasnt happy with Adam Pompey being selected, but he and every other player did more than enough to keep their spot so why change it.

This will be a tough match; the Roosters will be hurting from their loss and despite potentially having a few players miss this match due to injury or suspension they still have a dangerous roster. If the Warriors have another slow start, the Roosters could storm ahead and make it a difficult day. However, if the Warriors start strong and show the same determination that they did in Round One, then it is anyone's game. While I am still oozing optimism, I am going to say the Warriors will go 2-0 with an eight-point win here.

So that was a satisfying Round 1, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What did you like most about the victory?

Would you make any changes to the game day 17?

Who was your Player of the day?

What is your score prediction against the Roosters?