NZ Warriors 2023 Round 25 Review: Warriors survive shaky first half to extend win streak to 6 against a sturdy Sea Eagles

After Round 24's win over the Wests Tigers, the Warriors returned to Auckland to the for the limited time only Daniel Anderson Stadium to face a Sea Eagles side desperate for a win to keep their finals hopes alive.

In front of a large crowd, the Warriors survived a few scares in the first half before conceding no points in the second to secure their sixth win in a row, 29-22, taking them one step closer to a top-four finish.

What Went Down

Both sides wore heritage jerseys in this clash: the Warriors in their 2003 jerseys and Manly in their mid-90s “Pepsi” jerseys. Go Media Stadium (Mt Smart Stadium) was also renamed “Daniel Anderson Stadium” for this game to commemorate Daniel Anderson Round.

After a Bunty Afoa error on the first set, Manly made good use of the mistake, with former Parramatta Eel Jake Arthur scoring for Manly in the first minute.

The Warriors regrouped, and after several back-and-forth sets, a penalty, and almost crossing over via Luke Metcalf, the Skipper Tohu Harris crashed over in the seventh minute to level the game at 6-6.

A few sets later, a Sea Eagles error saw the Warriors regather the ball, and after a few hit-ups, the Warriors went right to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who scored the first of his three tries, dotting down in the right corner with his trademark one-handed put-down after a nice tip-on from Rocco Berry.

Another penalty against Manly gave the Warriors good field position, and Watene-Zelezniak’s second try came moments later with a great individual run breaking several tackles and crashing over the line. Adam Pompey converted to give the Warriors a 16-6 lead.

A Marata Niukore error from the kick-off gave the Sea Eagles the chance they needed to get back into the contest, and they took it with both hands as they shifted right to Jason Saab, who started his hat-trick run with two tries in 11 minutes- both in the right corner – as Manly levelled up at 16-16. In between these tries, the Warriors looked to have scored a try via Luke Metcalf, but it was taken away due to obstruction by the bunker. Manly had a try denied a few sets later, where the bunker advised that Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad grounded the ball just before Rueben Garrick.

Saab claimed his hat trick just before the break: all three had come in the right corner. Garrick converted as Manly took a 22-16 halftime lead.

After errors from both sides littered the beginning of the second half, the Warriors opened the scoring when Watene-Zelezniak completed his hat trick in the right corner in the 50th minute. Pompey converted to tie the game at 22-22. 

The game was at a standstill, with both sides trading sets with few scoring opportunities but not for the lack of effort.

There was a crucial call in the 72nd minute when a Daly Cherry-Evans field goal was charged down. Garrick regathered the ball but appeared to be tackled in the air, giving the Sea Eagles a seemingly effortless penalty goal attempt. But Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad’s tackle was cleared as it was from a bouncing ball, not a kick. Garrick’s knock-on counted, and the Warriors got the ball back.

The Warriors scored a few tackles later, after the scrum win, with Marata Niukore bursting through from 35 out. Pompey converted for a 28-22.

As he’s done so many times before, Shaun Johnson sealed the win with a field goal.

The Warriors have almost secured a top-four finish, while Manly’s season is just about finished.

My Thoughts

Well, I have been saying for a while that this was the only match I was worried about. After that first 40, I admit I thought the Warrior's goose may have been cooked, but that old-school PTSD I still have from time to time from being disappointed about the Warriors in previous years was not needed as they shut Manly out in the second half and got the job done.

It was another game where the Warriors didn't deliver their best performance but still managed to win against a side like Manly, who were desperate to win in a bid to keep their slim finals chance alive. 

I see all these matches as chances to build the Warrior's character and confidence for what will be a tough finals campaign, so I was happy to see the Warriors come from behind and shut out the Sea Eagles in the second half.

There was still plenty I was concerned about, and there is a lot of work needed to be done for finals as teams like the Panthers, Broncos and Storm are good enough to pick apart the Warrior's weak spots we have seen this year and blow them off the park if they are not prepared.

I have confidence in Webster getting the boys ready. I expect to see the wrinkles ironed out in the final two rounds of the regular season before we get into only the second finals campaign since I started writing my reviews.

Before moving on, I should mention the elephant in the room with the Rueben Garrick situation; being there live, the incident happened almost right in front of me, and I assumed it was a penalty and maybe a sin-bin, so was very confused when the Warriors were given the ball. I learnt on the drive home about the reason why it was play on and was ok with the call; however, I know if it was the other way around, and it was a Warriors player getting hit, I would be blowing up, so I understand the frustration from the Sea Eagles fans and Anthony Seibold. An interesting rule to say the least but credit to the official for making the call by the book.

I am sure we will go into it more in-depth on The Stand-Off on Wednesday night, so come watch us there for more of a conversation about the situation.

There was plenty to smile about, which leads to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

That right edge from the Warriors is just so lethal when Shaun Johnson is floating across the line; he is dangerous, but then you throw in a hard line runner like Marata Niukore, who is able to create space and holes for Rocco Berry and Charnxe Nicoll-Klokstad to engage before sending the ball to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak who is just so hard to stop in the corner. It almost feels like a cheat code because you know that in the opposition's red zone, the Warriors can almost score with anyone on that right edge; if the Warriors can create a similar situation on the left, they will be a tough team for anyone to beat.

After hoping to see the big man get some reduced minutes, Addin Fonua-Blake was once again the ironman in the front row playing 71 minutes. He churned out 192m with 62 post-contact. He did make a few errors, but they were few are far between. We are all talking about SJ and his fantastic season, and rightly so, but AFB is still the first name I would put on the team sheet. His hard work upfront just makes everyone else's job a little bit easier. Hopefully, some reduced game time is on the way for the big unit, so he is at 100% for the first week of finals.

Lastly, the Warriors keep the Sea Eagles to nil in that second half. That was my biggest highlight, as in that first half, it looked like Manly had exposed a flaw in the Warrior's defensive structure, and the points would continue to flow down Manlys right edge. I'm not sure what they did at halftime to sort it out, but it appeared to work even when Josh Curran was shifted to centre when Marcelo Montoya went off for his HIA; Manly tried to get Saab the ball often, but the Warriors managed to get to him early and deny him the open space that makes him so dangerous. If they work together like this for the entire 80 from now on, it will make me a little more confident in them clocking up more wins.

However, I did have some concerns, which brings me to my negatives from the game.

Match Negatives

I just mentioned it as a 2nd half positive, but that left-edge defence in the first half was horrible. I have watched it several times, and I think you can point your finger at several players in different situations. From watching live at the ground, I could see that the entire edge from Metcalf through to Montoya were not talking to each other, and if there is no communication, that's when holes start to open up. 

It's an easy enough thing to address and correct for the coaching staff, and I think we already saw the start of that in the second half here, but communication will be essential, especially with a potential match against a lethal Broncos outfit in three weeks, if they keep vocal and trust in each other to take on their man then they will reduce the oppositions scoring opportunities tenfold.

My 2023 bugbear continues with the Warrior's errors again, hitting double digits with 13 in this match. A lot of them were just silly schoolboy errors like the Bunty Afoa drop in the opening minute, which in his defence, I put the blame more on the dreadful pass from Wayde Egan. I'm just looking ahead to the finals, and I know that if you give away 13 errors and allow one of those premiership contenders all those extra sets, you will be well on the way to an early exit which the Warriors cannot afford to do. They know they can score points, but at times, they need to slow it down and get the basics right, do that and the tries will come.

That left edge attack is still not combining well; they had a few moments but didn't execute them with the finesse we have come to expect from the right edge. Luek Metcalf is a hell of a talent, but once again, he had a few half-breaks with unmarked men on his outside and his decision to tuck the ball and go himself cost the Warriors a handful of tries. I love seeing him run, but if you have someone wide open close to the line, you have to give them the ball. It's why I still prefer a guy like Te Maire Martin on that edge instead; what he lacks in spark and speed, he makes up for with experience and Game IQ.

Warrior of the Match

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

Hard to go past the hat trick hero here; DWZ has exceeded all my expectations this season; after missing the first six rounds due to injury, he has made every post a winner and has become one of the best finishers in the game with his trademark dives in the corner. 

However, in this match, he showed that he isn't a one-trick pony with his second try, where he broke five tackles. He ran for 173m, and his defence has improved this season, and while he made no tackles and had no misses in this match, he was great at creating pressure which led to a critical intercept when the Warriors looked to be on the ropes. Currently sitting at the top of the try scorer leaderboard, tied with Alex Johnston and Jamayne Isaako with 21 tries, and with games against the Dragons and Dolphins left has a decent chance at taking the outright lead before the regular season ends.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve is Marcelo Montoya.

While one winger reaped all the praise, the other one bore the brunt of the fan's criticism in this match, and he was really the only option for me this week.

While not helped by the Warrior's poor left edge defence with Jackson Ford and Luke Metcalf not shifting out as they should have, Montoya kept allowing Jason Saab to have the outside lane, and he was just too quick to handle. He did set up a nice try that was ultimately denied by the bunker, but he also made 3 errors and only ran for 89m, which is low for him. An HIA saw him leave the field for a spell that didn't help his stats, but it was a night to forget. It was an off night, but I am not throwing the baby out with the bathwater and wouldn't drop him; I want to see him bounce back this week.

Next Round Thoughts and Prediction

Round 26 sees the Warriors stay at Go Media Stadium for their last regular season home match, hosting the St George Illawarra Dragons, who lost 38-28 to the Storm in Round 25.

Regarding the team I would pick, once again, I would keep it the same except for bringing Te Maire Martin back in to replace Luke Metcalf if TMM is deemed fit; it may be a controversial choice, but I want to see him get a few games under his belt before finals and believe he is the key to unlocking the left edge attack which will be needed in the playoffs as well as adding some much-needed structure to the left side defensive structure.

We already know that I do not like the Dragons, and it's fitting that the last regular season match I get to go to is against them. They have been woeful this year, but in the past month, they have started to show so much heart, so this match is not as easy as the ladder positions would let you think. The Warriors need to come in prepared to work and then just play that simple footy that has got them this far, reduce the errors, control the middle and get the ball to DWZ, tick all those boxes, and the Warriors get their seventh win on the trot.

I am confident that they will get the job done, so I am going with a Warriors win by 18.

So that was tense Round 25, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Would you bring TMM back, or would you have him sit out the rest of the season?

Do you think DWZ will end the season with the top try-scorer award?

How would you improve the Warrior's left edge on both attack and defence?

What is your score prediction against the Dragons?