NZ Warriors 2024 Round 7 Review: Dragons Dominate Warriors in Humiliating Loss

After their tense draw against the Sea Eagles, the Warriors headed back across the ditch to face the Dragons. After a promising start, the Warriors fell apart, with the Dragons making their 30-12 victory look like a training run.

What Went Down

The Warriors started the match strong with some strong runs from the pack before being handed a good opportunity after Francis Molo gave away a penalty for a flop: moments later, Shaun Johnson spied a gap and went himself crossing the line untouched for the first try of the match. The Warriors kept the pressure on and forced an error from Moses Suli and camped themselves in the Dragon's half; with the Dragons continuing to make errors and penalties, it looked certain the Warriors would cross the try-line again; however, the Dragon's defence held firm and won the battle when Jacob Liddle intercepted a pass to release some pressure. Between the 18th and 23rd minutes, the momentum started to swing with the Warriors making an error and giving away three penalties, the last one giving the Dragons valuable field position, which they took advantage of when Ben Hunt passed to Suli, who broke Rocco Berry's tackle and crossed for the home sides first points. An error in the next set, when Marcelo Montoya dropped the ball while getting tackled on the kick return, saw the Dragons right back at it, and a few plays later, crossed again when they shifted right to send Mikaele Ravalawa over for his first try of the season. The home side kept the pressure on and was guided up the field on the back of a Warriors penalty and ruck infringement before Hunt took on the goal line defence and powered his way over the line to extend his side's lead. With the first half almost over, Zac Lomax kicked a 2-point field goal to extend his side's lead to 16-6 as both sides entered the sheds.

The second started in the same fashion that the first ended, with the Dragons scoring within the first minute when Lomax grabbed a high kick over the top on Montoya to push their lead out to 16. They kept the pressure on the Warriors, who struggled to create any opportunities with the limited ball they had before they found themselves under the pump again when the Dragons forced a goal-line dropout; Johnson's kick went short but did look like it was going to bounce over the ten-metre line but was grabbed by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, giving the Dragon's an easy penalty which they slotted to move out to a 24-6 lead. That looked to provide a mini wakeup call for the Warriors, who started to string some sets together and started making inroads into the Dragon's red zone but struggled against their strong goal-line defence; this pressure led to another mistake when Johnson dropped the ball before watching Tyrell Sloan scoop it up and run the length of the field to score what would be the last try of the match for the Dragons. With time running out, the Warriors had a few attempts at scoring but were not able to cross the line before finally making a play stick in the 70th minute when they shifted right, sending Dallin Watene-Zelezniak over in the corner; Johnson conversion was the final scoring play of the match as both sides spent the final ten minutes trading sets and errors until the final whistle blew putting the Warriors and their fans out of their misery with a 30-6 loss and their worst defeat of the season.

My Thoughts

Well, that sucked; of all teams were to get dominated by, it had to be the team I despise the most. I thought the Warriors started well in the first 20, but they just went off the rails. Being down 16-6 at the break wasn't a game-ender for me as we had seen the Warriors adjust and fight back from a significant deficit before, but when the Dragons came out firing, I knew deep down that this would not be the night. With the Warriors' middle stocks heavily depleted and an injury ruling out Chanel Harris-Tavita before kickoff, I had many concerns about the Warriors' bench rotation. Unfortunately, those concerns proved true with the big boppers being used for big minutes and gassing out and a reluctance to use Adam Pompey and Paul Roache until the game was well and truly over; I personally would have given Zyon Maiu'u a shot, I know he may not be ready for first grade yet, and I'm biased due to being a massive fan of the young forward. Still, I think he may have been able to help, although his inclusion would not have fixed the schoolboy issues that caused the collapse here.

It was an ugly game to watch and was very unlike Andrew Webster Warriors and more like the side we had grown used to before he joined, with the players bickering on the field and looking like a bunch of individuals instead of the focused team we have gotten used to. 

Many of the issues in this match are fixable and can be addressed, so I am not one of the people writing this side off now; this was an aberration, and we will see a bounce back sooner rather than later.

I have no excuses for this game, and I am happy to forget about it once this review is done.

There wasnt much to smile about this week, but I found a couple, which brings me to my positives.

Match Positives

We are another week closer to getting some troops back. Dylan Walker and Chanel Harris-Tavita should both be available this week. However, we still have the rest of the injured players who won't be in contention to return until after the Magic Round. I have been praising the club's depth, but with the middle stocks cleaned out, it has proven to be too much. 

Perhaps this result can provide a bit of a wakeup call; I'm not involved in the camp, but perhaps with all the praise in the media and being discussed all week due to the news of James Fisher-Harris joining the club in 2025 went to the player's heads or perhaps they came into this match taking the Dragons lightly. I can't confirm that by any stretch, but with how the team performed and how Webster used his bench, it looked like they weren't respecting the Dragons. A dangerous mistake in the NRL when any team on their day can beat anyone. This humbling performance may have come at the right time so they can refocus and return to climbing the ladder.

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

Match Negatives

The Dragons got themselves into the battle on the back of the Warrior's ill-discipline and errors. They ended the match with 7 penalties conceded, 3 ruck infringements and 10 errors. Most of them were just coach-killer actions, and against any team, giving away 20 free sets will make getting the victory much harder. Just take a breath and focus on the basics; that has got the Warriors in the driver's seat in many of the contests this year, the way they play a more clinical style with a heavy focus on applying pressure. If they do that, I expect to see their performance improve.

The attack was a mess; they could not find a way through the Dragon's defence for large portions of the match, with the only tries coming from SJ taking advantage of the Dragons, assuming he was shifting it wide and not trying to shut him down and then the try to DWZ which is hard for any side to stop. It goes back to what I was saying earlier about the team visually bickering with each other; they were all out of sync, which was reflected in the attacking structure. Although I can't blame it all on the Warriors as the Dragons' defence was impressive, with a big highlight being when Tohu Harris got across the line, and the Dragons carried him back into the field of play. It was a tremendous effort from them; so much of the credit needs to go their way.

The Warriors' defence, however, could have been better; there were moments in this match where they looked like turnstiles with either poor communication or terrible technique. The two moments that stood out for me were the Ben Hunt try, which he should never have been able to score, and the Lomax try, where Montoya didn't even attempt to jump for the kick and was left to look silly. Defence is an attitude thing for the most part, so it wasnt a big surprise to see their defensive structures fall apart the further behind they got on the scoreboard. This is another easy fix for Webster and his team to work on before the next Round.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the Match goes to Addin Fonua-Blake.

In a game full of disappointing performances, AFB had a strong outing, running for 255 metres, with 108 of those being post-contact metres. He made 23 tackles and was one of only two players (the other being Roger Tuivasa-Sheck) that ended the match with 0 missed tackles. Had big minutes, which we expected with the bench named as it was, but he was one of a select few who looked to be giving their all for the entire contest, albeit with a few uncharacteristic errors that he would wish he could take back. The news of James Fisher-Harris joining the club is excellent, but I will miss AFB when he leaves. I hope the club sends him out on a high note.

Warrior to Improve

My Player to improve is Marcelo Montoya.

This section was a tossup between Montoya and Jackson Ford this week, but after that Lomax try, I knew I had to go Montoya's way. He had quite a few moments in this game that put the Warriors on the back foot, that Lomax try, His error on the kick return and then the defensive effort that led to Ravalawa's try. Just not a great night out for the winger who, while he has improved a lot under Webster, he is still prone to an off night, which is what we saw here. I expect a bounceback, but if he has another effort like this, I would not be surprised to see Ed Kosi or Adam Pompey getting that wing spot.

Next Round Thoughts and Prediction

In Round 8, the Warriors head home to host an ANZAC Day clash for the first time since 2015 against the Gold Coast Titans, the same opponents they faced on this day nine years ago. The Titans are the only winless side left in the NRL, but they came close in Round 7 with a 34-30 loss against the Sea Eagles.

Regarding the team I would pick, they are low on troops, but if Dylan Walker and Chanel Harris-Tavita are cleared to play, I would bring them onto the bench, replacing Adam Pompey and Paul Roache in my only changes.

The Titans have had a shocking start to the season, but in the past two rounds, they have shown significant improvement, which has me a bit concerned; they are showing up and putting a lot of pressure on their opponents, and they cannot be taken lightly. This ANZAC Day game is a massive occasion that the Warriors have struggled with in the past; in front of another sellout crowd in Auckland, there will be some big expectations for the Warriors to walk away with the win here.

The Warriors just need to keep it simple, stick to the game plan of kicking to the corners and applying pressure, and reduce the errors and penalties, and the points will come.

I am confident of a bounce back, but it will be a close match, so I am picking the Warriors to win by 8.

So, that was a disappointing Round 7, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Would you have given Zyon his chance?

Do you have any concerns after seeing the team bickering with each other?

How would you have used the bench in this match?

What is your score prediction against the Titans?