NZ Warriors 2023 Round 5 Review: Warriors Hype Continues with Unbelievable Comeback Win

 

After last week's victory over the Bulldogs, the Warriors headed back over the ditch to PointsBet Stadium to face the Sharks.

I predicted a close Sharks win (by 10) in my review last week, but boy was I wrong; the Sharks looked to make a mockery of that prediction when they shot out to a 20-point lead; however, the 2023 Warriors once again proved that they just refuse to quit and clawed there way back into the contest before Shaun Johnson nailed the match-winning penalty in the dying stages for an impressive 32-30 victory.

What Went Down

The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks continued where they left off from their thrashing of the St. George Illawarra Dragons last week with an extremely early try from Teig Wilton just over one minute into the game.

They continued their dominance through the first quarter of the game and extended their lead to 18 points with tries from Ronaldo Mulitalo and Sione Katoa.

Nicho Hynes continued the assault off the tee with a penalty shot 18 minutes in to take the lead out to 20 points before the Warriors made inroads with a try from Wayde Egan.

The points flowed with seemingly optional defence, and Will Kennedy added to the Sharks’ lead. Marata Niukore cancelled out Kennedy’s effort with a try of his own with just 10 minutes of the half to play. The final 10 minutes, by contrast to the rest of the half, stayed scoreless, and the Cronulla Sharks went into the sheds at halftime 26-12 up and a man up after Marata Niukore was sent for 10 minutes for a dangerous tackle.

However, the Sharks didn’t capitalise on the sin bin, and the Warriors started the second half the better of the two sides. After shelling out criticism of his opposing winger in the first half, Ronaldo Mulitalo dropped a high bomb from Shaun Johnson, who then cleaned up the bouncing ball to go over and cut the lead to eight points after converting his own try with just over five minutes played.

Mulitalo endured more embarrassment shortly after with his opposing winger, Edward Kosi, scoring to cut the Sharks’ lead down to one score. However, he managed to redeem himself with a try of his own five minutes later in the 56th minute to score and give the Sharks some breathing room while mouthing off to the Warriors again.

Johnson made him look a fool for a second time, though, dropping another one of his high bombs for the Warriors to regain possession. The Warriors pressed the Sharks’ line with the ensuing sets and ultimately powered over through Josh Curran to level the scores.

With the two sides, trading blows at 30-30, Dale Finucane was sent to the sin bin for a hip drop tackle with six minutes to play. On the following penalty, the Warriors couldn’t take their advantage and missed touch in the Cronulla half.

In the closing stages, Cronulla looked most likely to break the deadlock and began playing loose attacking rugby in the pouring rain. It eventually spelled their demise with a frantic pass in the Warriors’ half, missing its target and Josh Curran hacking it into the Sharks’ half. Curran couldn’t regain the ball, however, with Matt Moylan getting there first, but the officials clocked a penalty against Royce Hunt to give Johnson a chance to put the Warriors in the lead with a minute to play. Johnson obliged, and the Warriors looked to be heading back to New Zealand with the win.

It wasn’t over yet, though, with the Warriors failing to regain possession after the kickoff and Johnson playing at the ball from an offside position on the touchline, giving Nicho Hynes a final chance at a penalty to level it up with a very tough kick. Hynes sliced the kick right, and the Warriors scored another upset on the road.

My Thoughts

Holy crap, what a game; it had all the ups and downs of a Warriors match, didn't it? 

I can admit that when the Sharks started piling on the points in the early stages, my heart sank; it gave me flashbacks to last year. However, at halftime, with the score 26-12, some of that good old-fashioned Warriors optimism started to sneak back into my mind and then the Warriors put on the second half of a lifetime to nab the win.

I struggle to put into words how proud this team has made me, 20-0 down, several key players out, and the officials making some strange calls, the Warriors had so many reasons to just hang their heads and give up, but this side just refuses to quit, and I love it.

I keep saying it's early days, and we need to wait until the Warriors face some top-tier sides, well its been 5 weeks, and they just beat a full-strength Sharks side, so I'm done with the early-days stuff; this Warriors outfit is special, and if they can keep building, well the sky is the limit.

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

Match Positives

That resiliency, man; as I mentioned earlier, the Warriors had every reason to give up, but they didn't. The Sharks started to run out of gas, but the Warriors didn't, and that is something we have seen in every match this year. The Warriors pack may not be the biggest out there, but they just drain the energy of their opposition pack and reap the rewards. This club's new mentality is refreshing, and the Players seem to love it. If you listened to Shaun Johnson's interview post-match, where he talked about the attitude at halftime and the players and Andrew Webster believing in themselves, they were the better team in that final 40. Their mindset makes them a very dangerous team for any club to face, and long may it continue.

The first-half defence could have been better, but the Warriors did a complete 180 in the second half. The Sharks looked like they could score at will in the first 40, but in the second half, they really struggled and could only manage one more try for the night. I will steal a stat from Bunty Afoa's biggest fan, Anton Posa; he highlighted that no team in 2023 has scored a try against the Warriors in the final 20 minutes. It flows right back to the new mindset; as we all know, in the past, the final segment of the match was when the Warrior's defence leaked like a sieve. Just fantastic to see.

The Warriors were behind in so many of the stats by the time the final whistle blew, but hey, screw the stats! The Warriors may have less possession and fewer metres, but they knew how to convert their small chances into points and at the end of the day, if you score more points than your opponent, you win. 

However, two things concerned me, bringing me to my negative from the game.

Match Negative

For the fifth week in a row, the Warriors allowed their opponents to score inside the first five minutes. These slow starts are brutal to watch, and despite the Warriors fighting back against all those slow starts, it just doesn't make their job easy. If the Warriors could start matches how they ended them, they could be classed as a top-tier side. Webster and the rest of the coaching staff have said they are working on fixing those slow starts, so hopefully, we will see the Warriors not let in an early try this week against Newcastle.

The Forwards lost the battle in that first half; only two forwards ran for over 100m (Jazz Tevaga 156m and Addin Fonua-Blake 112m). The Sharks forwards were all over the Warriors in the first 40, and that's why the Sharks were scoring at will. However, as I said earlier, this Warriors pack can just wear sides out, so the Shark's forwards impact declined as the match dragged on. So overall not a massive negative; I just like seeing a few more forwards hit those triple digits, and that will likely happen when Tohu Harris and Mitch Barnett return.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the match goes to Shaun Johnson.

For the second week in a row, I have gone with Johnson; it was another stellar evening for the halfback; his kicking was excellent, I know he did not find touch on that penalty, but I thought Mulitalo touched the sideline before tapping the ball back so it should have been Warriors feed anyway. Regardless, he set up Niukore and Curran beautifully for their tries, showing great instinct to score his own after Mulitalo dropped one of his bombs. Had another big night defensively, making 24 tackles with only 1 miss, before rounding his night out with a clutch penalty goal for the win. He is in a better place mentally this year, and the Warriors are being rewarded with some great performances from him, and I hope it continues throughout 2023.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve goes to Viliame Vailea.

Was hard to pick a player here after the euphoria of that win, but I have gone with Vailea; he wasnt horrible and had some good runs, but Jesse Ramien had the edge over him, leading to some poor defensive reads and 5 missed tackles. He is going to be a star for this club. Still, he needs more seasoning, so when Brayden Williame is fit again, I would be sending him back to NSW Cup (which I did not predict ever saying as I would typically pick Vailea over Pompey, but I can't deny that Pompey has been doing enough to keep his spot).

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round six sees the Warriors stay in Australia, heading to McDonald Jones Stadium to face the Newcastle Knights, who had a 32-all draw against the Sea Eagles in Round Five.

Regarding the team, I would pick; the only change I would make is bringing back any of the injured players; from interviews I have heard from Webster, it may only be Harris and TMM that will be available, so they would come in and replace Ronald Volkman and Bayley Sironen.

The Warriors have already faced and defeated the Knights this season, and while it is always a challenge playing in Newcastle, the Knights have some injuries. They will not be as dangerous as they were in Round One, so I am backing the Warriors to get their fourth straight win with a victory by 18.

So that was an unbelievable Round 5, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

How are you feeling about this side after 5 rounds?

Who was your Player of the day?

Would you be looking at offering SJ a new deal?

What is your score prediction against the Knights?