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With the preseason officially behind us, the NRL is back, and Round 1 saw the Warriors start their campaign hosting the Sharks on home soil at Go Media Stadium.
The Warriors started strong in front of a sellout crowd but began to unravel as the match progressed, going down 16-12.
What Went Down
The Warriors showed their intent in the early stages, with quick ruck speed allowing them to march up the field easily. With the Sharks backpeddling, the Warriors crossed the line first in the 7th minute thanks to a bargeover from future Shark Addin Fonua-Blake.
A few sets later, off the back of a Sharks error, the Warriors were over again, thanks to a piece of individual brilliance from Luke Metcalf when he cut back inside before evading five tacklers to score under the posts.
The Warriors kept the pressure on, with Jackson Ford, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, and Kurt Capewell all almost scoring. After that, the game started to get into a grind, with both sides trading errors and penalties before the Sharks finally got on the scoreboard when Jesse Ramien sniped over from the dummy half in the 34th minute. This was the last play of note in the first half, with the Warriors going into the sheds with a 12-6 lead.
The Warriors started the second half in the worst way possible, making an error in their first set, which the Sharks punished them for when Ronaldo Mulitalo scored in the corner. Nicholas Hynes missed the conversion, which saw his side remain two points behind.
The sides went set for set, with errors again featuring heavily for both teams before Siosifa Talakai broke the line and attempted to send Mulitalo over for his second. The Warriors stopped him but not his offload, which went back to Talakai to dive across the line, handing the Sharks the lead.
The Warriors started to mount pressure in the final 20 minutes, earning themselves repeat sets after repeat sets. However, they could not convert that pressure into points as the Sharks defended their goal valiantly and held on for a deserved 16-12 victory.
My Thoughts
Well, it's fair to say that wasn't how I expected Round 1 to go for the Warriors.
They looked great for the first 20 minutes, and then things started to unravel; I can't put my finger on why there was a drop-off, but I know Andrew Webster and his team will be working on that this week, so we won't see it become a pattern with the club.
Was it the best performance? No, but I thought there were still some positive aspects of what we saw, and while it's not the best platform to kick the season off, it's definitely not the worst.
It's early in the season, and there is no reason to panic. If they iron out some of the kinks, they will be back in the Winners Circle once again.
Before I move on, it was great to be back in a packed-out stadium again. Hopefully, we will get more sellouts in the future in Auckland; I know Christchurch is already sold out, but I expect the big crowds to continue to make their way to Penrose.
The Warrior's entrance is incredible to watch (although I prefer it when they run out to Ru Ana Te Whenua by Alien Weaponry instead of Welcome to the Jungle, as it was more unique to the Warriors, in my opinion).
And also I'm not a fan of the new game announcer who kind of killed the crowd, I'm not sure if he is the new man going forward, but if he is, hopefully, he will pick his game up.
It wasn't the best start to the season, but there were a few things to smile about, which brings me to my positives.
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Round 2 sees the Warriors head across the ditch for the first time in 2024 to face the Melbourne Storm, who defeated the Penrith Panthers 8-0 in Round 1.
Match Positive
The forwards put in a massive effort with five of them running over 100 metres, Tohu Harris (237m), Addin Fonua-Blake (220m), Mitchell Barnett (174m), Dylan Walker (159m) and Jackson Ford (110m). The pack also ensured they had quick play the balls, which allowed the Warriors to play a faster style, which the Sharks struggled to contain. It needs to be something they can do for 80 minutes instead of 20, although Egan's exit didn't help matters.
The Warriors' defence was good, with only 19 misses. It is still something they can improve on, as a few lapses allowed the Sharks across the line, but they defused a lot of what the Sharks threw at them. It's early days, and with some new combinations still working things out, I expect the defensive game to become a key aspect of their climbing the ladder.
They played great for 20 minutes and then poor for 60 but were still in the fight right up to the final whistle; this is a good reflection of this side's character; when things started to go wrong, they didn't give up and kept trying. When they work out those things that went wrong, then they are going to win plenty of games, and in those tense games, when the result is on the edge of a knife, we know that they won't give up on the match or each other, which is championship team material.
However, I did have concerns, which brings me to my negatives from the game.
Match Negatives
The team's attack was a bit stilted. There were moments when they looked electric, but there were plenty of moments when the team looked a little off. I am putting that down to the combinations that still need time to get in sync. It may take a few games, but when they click, they will be hard to stop, and the points will start to flow.
The team only made 9 errors, which isn't bad, as my target is single-digit errors, so they just squeezed in.
However, it was the locations and times the errors were made that were the issue; building momentum and then making an error just sucked the life out of the Warrior's attack, but just like above, I believe this will improve when the team gets used to the new combinations.
The exit of Wayde Egan was crushing, he came off around the 30th minute, and I'm still not sure if that was for a niggle or part of the gameplan, but the Warriors missed him out there, and the service out of the ruck just wasnt as quick when Lussick came out. Egans return to the match was shortlived, lasting only a tad over a minute when he injured his elbow. There still isn't an update on how bad it is; however, the Warriors could find themselves in some strife if he is out long-term, so I have my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
The injury to Egan and Kurt Capewell also threw the interchange plan out the window, resulting in Tom Ale not getting any minutes. Webster commented on it in the post-match interview, saying that the plan for Ale was to give him the final 15 minutes, but with one interchange left and Egan and Capewell gone, he had to make a choice, and with the game on the line, he choose to bring Addin Fonua-Blake back on which was the right decision. Sucks for Ale, but hopefully, he gets a chance to get on the pitch this week.
Warrior of the Match
My Warrior of the Match goes to Addin Fonua-Blake.
The news that AFB was leaving the Warriors early was disheartening, and his performance here truly showed how much the Warriors will miss him in 2025.
He played fewer minutes than we are used to, but it did not reduce his effort. In the 56 minutes he was on the pitch, he ran for 220 metres, had 63 post-contact minutes, and led the match with 2 linebreaks. He also made 23 tackles with no misses.
AFB is the cornerstone of the Warriors pack, and he will always be one of the top contributors every week. I expect that to continue until his last game with the club.
I want to see some of the younger boys in the pack try to get closer to his level, which is no easy feat.
Warrior to Improve
My Warrior to improve is Jackson Ford.
He delivered more than enough to avoid this section normally; he had 14 runs for 110 metres, led the Warriors in tackles with 38 and was giving his all.
However, he made three coach-killing errors, which halted all the pressure the Warriors had created. I like Ford and think he is a solid contributor to this side, but he is prone to errors and giving away silly penalties. Competition for spots is tight at the Warriors, so if he wants to keep his spot, he needs to decrease the number of turnovers he gives away.
Next Round Thoughts and Prediction
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Regarding the team I would pick, I would keep the same 17 if everyone is fit; there are still question marks around Wayde Egan and Kurt Capewell being able to play.
If Egan is out, I would bring Chanel Harris-Tavita in to play hooker, either starting with Lussick on the bench or the other way around. If Capewell can't play, I would move Barnett to the 2nd row and Afoa to the starting row, with Jacob Laban coming onto the bench.
The Warriors have struggled against the Storm for a long time, with their last victory in Melbourne being in 2014. They were close to getting the job done last season and have the ability to end their Melbourne losing streak. If they can play with the same ruck speed they showed in the first 20 minutes against the Sharks and reduce those errors, they have a massive shot, especially against a Storm team that is still a bit rusty. Unfortunately, I think the Storm will be too strong at home, so I'm picking them to win by 8, but I hope I'm wrong.
So, that was a deflating Round 1, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
Who was your player of the day?
How would your team look if Egan and Capewell are ruled out?
Has this loss changed your preseason thoughts?
What is your score prediction against the Storm?
Yeah when egan was on the bench or injured we did not look likely. Even the minute he came back on for we looked better.
ReplyDeleteOur defence was really good. They kicked from deep in their half many many times.
We needed more points from our dominate opening.
Storm. Yes. That game last year. So close but ended with no bench and NAS had his best game all year after resigning. Can we win this year? It’s impossible to say yes after round 1 with Egan in doubt.
Great to see your columns back again Brad. I actually feel better and more positive about the game after reading your words so thanks for that. Firstly, I think that small things like the run out song and the live ground announcer actually matter, so to hear that Welcome to the Jungle was used would have really bothered me if I had been at the game. And that slow, droning w-a-r-r-i-o-r-s chant is just embarrassing, especially as the audience don't seem to get on board with it. Those things need to change.
ReplyDeleteAs for player of the day, hard to go past Fonua Blake though the ever reliable Tohu Harris was also good as was Barnett who seems to be developing into a good, solid player for us.
Sounds like Egan and Capewell will both be playing, which is probably just as well. Egan has become so important to this side that Lussick really needs to be able to be relied upon to replace him as Egan does get injured a fair bit, working as hard as he does.
I must not let this loss dent my optimism but yet again I find myself doubting our attacking ability. We just don't seem as fast or dynamic as so many other teams. It's like we only have a few good attacks in us per game and that's it.
Every season I pick us to beat the Storm once a season and it hasn't happened in a long time. I have picked us to get them early this time so Warriors by two!
Once again, love your work Brad!