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?