NZ Warriors 2024 Round 8 Review: New Week, Same Problems as Warriors Stunned by Titans

After their embarrassing loss to the Dragons, the Warriors returned home for their first ANZAC Day match on home soil since 2015. Just like in Round 7, the Warriors started strong but then left the door open, letting the Titans overtake them and cruise to a comfortable lead before a late Warriors comeback attempt added some excitement. However, it was too little, too late, as the Titans held on for a 27-24 win, their first for 2024.

What Went Down

A penalty against Brian Kelly for a dangerous tackle gave the Warriors good field position in the opening stages, and they took little time to capitalise when Charnze Nicoll-Kolkstad cut through the Titan's defence to score the first try of the afternoon. A few minutes later, the Warriors were over again after the visitors made an error, and Addin Fonua-Blake barged his way over the line, handing the Warriors a 12-0 lead after only 6 minutes.

A defensive misread from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak saw Kelly offload the ball to an unmarked Alofiana Khan-Pereira, who stormed down the sideline before sending AJ Brimson over to reduce the Warrior's lead to 6. The Warriors tried to regain control of the contest but struggled with the basics, making errors and giving away penalties; Dylan Walker's penalty for crowding in the play the ball was just what the Titans needed as they levelled the scores moments later when Tanah Boyd darted over in the 30th minute. Momentum had turned in the visitor's favour, and they kept the pressure on, forcing the Warriors to take a line dropout; they attempted a short one, which failed as Jojo Fifita secured the ball and broke several tackles before being stopped inches from the try line. With the Warriors on the ropes, the Titans kept plugging away and got their third try of the day when David Fifita powered his way through multiple defenders before planting the ball on the line. An error from DWZ in the final minute was challenged unsuccessfully by the Warriors, and the Titans ended the half with a Boyd 1-point field goal to see them go into the sheds with a 19-12 lead.

The Titans wasted little time when the second half started, with Kelly sending Khan-Pereira over in the corner in the 42nd minute. A handful of errors from the Titans left the doors open for the Warriors, and they looked to have taken advantage when Roger Tuivasa-Sheck snatched a kick and touched down for a much-needed try. However, the bunker took the try away after deeming that Wayde Egan had knocked the ball on in the play. The Titans went back to work and, 3 minutes later, had crossed the try line again when David Fifita threw an offload out to Brimson for his second try of the day. 

The Warriors, now severely under the pump, took advantage of a Titans error charging up the field and got a much-needed try when Addin Fonua-Blake stormed through multiple defenders to get his second try of the day. The comeback looked on as a few minutes later, they had scored again when Rocco Berry nabbed a Shaun Johnson bomb to score under the posts to see them trailing 27-24 with 18 minutes to go. The home side kept plugging away, aided by Titans errors, but could not make a dent in the visitor's goal-line defence, which saw them cling on for their first win of the season 27-24 and yet another ANZAC Day defeat for the Warriors.

My Thoughts

I got a severe case of Deja Vu while watching this match. The Warriors started strong again, shooting out to a 12-point lead in the first 7 minutes, but then the errors began to seep in, and the Titans took over the match. We did see a Warriors fight back that almost got them the come-from-behind win, but they lacked creativity in attack, resorting to crash plays, which saw the Titans' defence able to withstand everything the Warriors threw at them. Add to that some coach-killing errors and ill-discipline, and it just made the Warriors's attempts to win that much harder, and it looked like no lessons were learned from last week's defeat. It was a depressing game to watch, and the performance sucked the life out of the crowd, who only woke up with Zyon Maiu'u getting on the pitch, adding some energy. I am still optimistic that this team can turn things around with most of the issues easy to address and fix, and when some troops come back, we should see a bounce back, but these losses are ones the Warriors may regret when they reach the end of the season however that is still a while down the road.

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

Match Positives

The debut of Zyon Maiu'u added some much-needed energy to the match. He only got 13 minutes, but he made the most of it with 7 runs for 77 metres and 5 tackles with zero misses. He ran with intent and aggression and showed me more than enough to see him stay on the interchange until some of the injured middles return, but I would give him more minutes and perhaps two stints in the future. I have been a big fan of his in the lower grades, and he looks to be another great young talent ready to make his mark; the big test of first grade is delivering week in and week out, so that will be his making or breaking.

The Warriors have a ten-day break before their next match, which gives the squad more time to address the issues in their game model and rest up, as several players are dealing with injuries. It's like a bye-round, so the Warriors must make the most of it. 

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

Match Negatives

The defence has been shocking the past few weeks, with the Warriors missing 43 tackles in this match, and the goal-line defence has been atrocious; it felt like the Titans were able to score anytime they entered the Warrior's red zone; I am not sure what happened to the 2023 goal-line defence that was so good, but they have regressed and need to find a way to fix it. The edges also still appear to not trust each other enough to take their marked man, which is causing holes, and they struggled to stop the second phase, which has been a weakness of theirs since last season. It's something that can be addressed. However, it just needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later.

Like last week, the Warriors let themselves down with errors and ill-discipline, making 9 errors and conceding 5 penalties. When defending as poorly as they have been recently, they cannot afford to give the opposition 14 extra sets. As I said last week, the Warriors need to take a breath and focus, get those one-percenters right, and get those basics sorted. From there, the rest will follow.

The first-half fades continue. The Warriors looked great for the first 10-15 minutes and then regressed. At the moment, it just appears that at the first sign of adversity, the team just wilts. That is simply down to attitude, and it's the top issue of this team's performance that needs to be looked into during this 10-day break. If they can build up that resilience, then the wins will return.

Warrior of the Match

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

For the second week in a row, I gave the nod to the big man upfront; it was another big day at the office for AFB, with 20 runs for 217 metres and 98 post-contact metres. He also led the Warriors with 2 line breaks; it wasnt his best day on defence, however, with 27 tackles and 4 misses. The Warriors may not be tracking along as well as we would have hoped, but it's good to see that AFB is still giving the Warriors 100% in his final year at the club. 

Warrior to Improve

My Player to improve is Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

DWZ was active with the ball in hand, running 18 times for 192 metres; however, he was a constant risk defensively with several misreads, and he added pressure to his team with some simple errors. He can be electric when scoring those tries in the corner, but if he doesn't improve in all other facets of the game, he will remain a liability and could be a player at risk of losing his spot if there are no immediate improvements.

Next Round Thoughts and Prediction

In Round 9, The Warriors are back in Australia to face the Newcastle Knights, who defeated the Dolphins 18-14 in Round 8.

Regarding the team I would pick, I would stick with the same 17 due to the injuries throughout the squad; if some of the injured players are cleared, then I would bring them in, but I think Kurt Capewell is the only one who has a shot of returning who I would bring in for Laban. Although I could also be tempted to rest either Montoya or DWZ and bring Pompey in, moving RTS out to the wing, as the last time the attack looked good was with that backline against the Rabbitohs, I don't see Webster making significant changes.

The Knights have been poor this season, and the loss of Kalyn Ponga weakens their side, but David Armstrong had a decent debut this week and will hold his own out there, and they will not be easy beats, especially when they are playing at home.

The Warriors need to keep it simple, reduce those errors, strengthen their defensive structure and ask more questions about the Knights's defence; if they tick all those boxes, they should return to the winner's circle.

Call me an optimist, but I am picking the Warriors to win by 6 in a tight contest.

So, that was a soul-sucking Round 8, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Would you like to see Zyon get more minutes?

What would your gameday 17 be?

Do you have any concerns about the Warriors' finals aspirations?

What is your score prediction against the Knights?