NZ Warriors 2023 Round 17 Review: Warriors surge to biggest win of the season against Dismal Dragons

After their Round 16 Bye, the Warriors headed to WIN Stadium in Wollongong to face the Dragons.

The Warriors had a patchy first 20 minutes, but once they started to click, they cruised home with their largest win of 2023 with a comprehensive 48-18 victory.

What Went Down

The Warriors opened the scoring in the fifth minute, taking advantage of Mikaele Ravalawa dropping a relatively easy bomb, and it was Dallin Watene-Zelezniak who scored – for the fifth match in a row – in the corner with ease. Shaun Johnson missed the conversion, and the score remained 4-0.

Early errors were hurting the Warriors, and they were punished in the 13th minute when the Dragons’ speedy fullback Tyrell Sloan sliced through the Warriors’ left edge defence to score. And Sloan almost inspired another try five minutes later, but Ravalawa couldn’t sneak over. The conversion for the earlier try saw the Dragons take the lead 6-4.

The see-sawing of the lead continued in the 26th minute when a loose pass from Luke Metcalf that found the ground also found its way to Marcelo Montoya, who did very well to score through two Dragons defenders, wrestling the ball to the ground. Shaun Johnson missed his second conversion of the night, and the score stayed at 8-6.

After a lengthy (successful) Captain’s Challenge for the Warriors – where an audible cry from the crowd urged them to “play the game”, which was fair enough – the Warriors scored twice in the next three minutes to blow the Dragons away. The first came when Johnson laid on the perfect grubber, and Bayley Sironen found space and the ball to score the try. The next Warriors try minutes later was also from a kick, as Dylan Walker wanted a bomb more than the Dragons fullback, and Jackson Ford was on hand for the offload to score under the posts. Johnson kicked both conversions for a 20-6 lead.

The second half started with Warriors forward Marata Niukore being sent to the sin bin within minutes for high contact on Moses Suli, who left the field for an HIA and didn’t return. It was Niukore’s third sin-binning of the season and third report. Both are season highs.

And the Dragons made the Warriors pay not long after when Jacob Liddle set up Zane Musgrove to crash over from close to the line with almost his first touch of the game. The easy conversion closed the score to 20-12. But the Warriors defied the numerical disadvantage a few minutes later when Watene-Zelezniak’s acrobatics in the corner saw him score his second try. Johnson’s off night with conversions continued, but the Warriors still led 24-12.

Not long after the Warriors regained their 13th player, they extended their lead with two quick tries in quick time. First, Johnson ran onto an excellent offload close to the line from Addin Fonua-Blake. Then Rocco Berry was on hand to receive a selfless offload in the corner from Watene-Zelezniak for the second try in three minutes. Johnson converted both for a 36-12 lead, the Warriors were on fire, and the Dragons were officially out of puff.

St George Illawarra stopped the one-way traffic with 13 minutes to go as Francis Molo dived on a Jayden Sullivan grubber from dummy half under the posts and reduced the score to 36-18.

The joy didn’t last more than a few minutes as the Warriors passed 40 points, and Watene-Zelezniak secured a third career hat-trick with some more of his signature try-scoring acrobatics. Then minutes later, he scored his fourth – a more regulation try this time which owed equally to his speed and inept Dragons defence. Johnson was involved in the lead-up to both tries and converted both, and the score had quickly blown out to 48-18.

My Thoughts

Well, I have mixed emotions about this match, it was the biggest win for the Warriors this season, and it was against the team I dislike the most (or should I say hate); however, I don't believe it was the Warrior's best performance. My take on this match was tainted by the less-than-stellar first 20 minutes; in the final 60, the Warriors looked closer to the team I have come to expect this season, but a massive win was what was needed with how tight the ladder is, so I'm thrilled to see the team walk away with a win that sees them move to 5th on the ladder.

The Warriors started the match looking rusty, giving me flashbacks of the Broncos clash in Napier with them rushing and making silly errors; however, they righted the ship and started to punish the Dragons, with the match looking essentially over at halftime. 

It was great to see the Warriors put their foot down in the second half as if they want to be a top-eight or even top-four side; these are the winning margins they need to deliver against the cellar-dweller sides.

I've said it often this year, but this season feels special; this was a match that we would be used to seeing the Warriors let slip, but this team is built differently, and despite saying this wasnt their best performance, to score 48 points in a match when you are far from your best is a decent effort. The finals are still a bit away, and with the ladder being so close, you really can't have an off night, but the Warriors are in control of their own destiny right now and just need to keep improving on the little things, and a top-four finish is a definite possibility. Which I never thought I would say this year before the season started.

 

There were aspects of the game to smile about, leading to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

The Warrior's attack looked good in the final 60 of this match, it shouldn't really be a surprise against a bottom-four side, but the Warriors dominated the attacking stats running for 500 more metres, making 10 linebreaks, 32 tackle breaks and throwing 14 offloads. The Warriors did enough work up front to allow them opportunities out wide, and for the most part, they didn't panic and made the right choices when shifting to the edges. Another promising sign for me was there were no individuals out there; they thought and worked as a team, sending the ball out to the open man instead of trying to go it alone. This is something that needs to continue, as being individuals will only lead to their downfall. 

The forwards dominated in the middle again, with four hitting my triple-digit target.

Addin Fonua-Blake led the way yet again with 193m, followed by Tohu Harris (161m), Marata Niukore (148m) and Jackson Ford (113m). Dylan Walker was close with 97m also. With their heavy lifting upfront, the game opened up, and we saw the backs reap the benefits with some big runs and not to forget the back three's rampaging kick returns, which set the forwards up for success. If the forwards keep this up with Jazz Tevaga's return on the horizon, the Warriors will have a scary pack.

That defence was strong once again, only allowing in three tries, and while they were soft ones to let in, the fact they only conceded one try while being reduced to 12 men is commendable. They communicated well, worked together to plug holes in the defensive line and scrambled when needed. When things went wrong, there was no bickering or finger-pointing; they just brushed themselves off and got back to work. Nothing more to say about the Warriors 2023 defence that I haven't already said other than please keep it up, as it could make all the difference in where they end up on the ladder.

However, some things did concern me, bringing me to my negative from the game.

Match Negative

That first 20 minutes, I know the Warriors scored in the opening 5 minutes, but the Dragons looked dangerous in this period, especially Tyrell Sloan, who looked lethal with the ball in hand. The Warriors appeared to be rushing things and trying to cut corners at first but weathered the early onslaught before taking control. However, if the Warriors start a match against a top-tier side cold like they did here, they could find themselves in trouble. The Warriors do get better in the final 20-30 minutes, but if they are too far behind at that point, it will lead to a difficult day at the office.

Once again, the errors stayed concerning high, with the Warriors making 12 for the second performance in a row. Some were just from the Warriors rushing and trying to push things that weren't on. 

I just don't like seeing the Warriors gift their opposition extra sets, and while their defence saves them in most cases, it would be good to see the error rate return to the single digits sooner rather than later, especially with some of the teams coming up that will punish them for any errors they make.

Lastly the discipline, there was a low penalty count, but the Warriors conceded 4 to the Dragons 2, and they also gave away 3 ruck infringements to the Dragons 1. They also had another sin-bin, with Marata Niukore being given his marching orders for the second match in a row. I thought the sin-bin call was rough, but Niukore needs to lower his target when connecting with tackles, as the officials will be watching him like a hawk now. A bit like my issues with the errors, I don't want the Warriors to give away easy sets to the opposition. Each official calls matches differently, so I just want to see the Warriors learn to adjust to the current official as the game develops and reduce the calls against them; easier said than done, I know.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the Match goes to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

A stellar night for DWZ, who has been making every post a winner in his delayed start to the 2023 season. He entered this match never scoring a hat-trick in the NRL and decided to go one better with his first even four-try haul. That sees him at the top of the Warrior's try-scorer tally with 12 tries from 9 matches. Not content to sit on the sideline waiting for an easy four-pointer, he led the game with 227 running metres and 5 linebreaks and setting Rocco Berry up for a nice try. An excellent overall performance from the winger, he is one of the best at scoring in the corner, and hopefully, we will see him continue to grow this season as he is becoming the Warrior's best strike weapon on that edge.

Warrior to Improve

I couldn't pick a Warrior to improve this week, I thought they all did a decent 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 18 sees the Warriors return home to a sell-out crowd to host the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who lost to the Cowboys 31-6 this round.

Regarding the team I would pick, I would keep it the same, except for bringing Mitch Barnett in to replace Marata Niukore, who will be suspended.

Te Maire Martin may be ready to return, and I think I would bring him straight back into the halves; Metcalf is good and growing in confidence, but TMM has the experience and is better defensively. 

It sounds like the Rabbitohs may still be missing Latrell Mitchell for this trip, which makes them less dangerous, but not by much. 

If the Warriors can iron out the kinks we saw in this Dragons match and stick to their game plan of having Tohu and AFB doing the hard yards up front and opening holes with their short passing game, the backs should be given plenty of chances to score. They have been great on defence this season, and they need to keep that up, reducing Cody Walker's impact on the match. It's the most challenging matchup for the Warriors in a while, but I am staying confident and backing them for the upset, seeing them walking away with an 8-point win.

So that was an okay Round 17, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Did you have a player to improve?

Is a top-four finish possible?

So would you stick with Metcalf or bring TMM back?

What is your score prediction against the Rabbitohs?