NZ Warriors 2024 Round 22 Review: Eels Electrify as Warriors Drowned in Shocking Defeat

After their scratchy Round 21 victory over the Tigers, the Warriors remained at home to host the Eels. With the return of Shaun Johnson and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, there was plenty for the fans to be excited about, but that excitement turned to disappointment as the Warriors put in another lacklustre performance with only a few last-minute tries, making the loss look close. They went down 30-20 against an Eels side that hadn't tasted victory since Round 13.

What Went Down

With the Warriors backed by an exuberant home crowd, they hit the ground running, attacking both sides of the Parramatta defence, but struggled to ask any questions that the Eels didn't have answers for. In the first ten minutes, their best chance at points came when Marata Niukore took a short ball from the returning Shaun Johnson but was deemed to have lost possession when he was hit in a big tackle by Blaize Talagi. The Visitors weathered the storm and then started to get themselves into the contest, attacking the Warriors' right edge several times before finally reaping the rewards in the 17th minute when they swept to the left before Talagi drew in Dallin Watene-Zelezniak before sending Jake Tago in the corner before Clint Gutherson put the cherry on top with a successful sideline conversion. After a few sets, the Eels got themselves a repeat set after the Warriors knocked the ball on, trying to stop the Eels from going down the edge again. Moments later, Joey Lussick, who had just entered the match for Brendan Hands, took advantage of a lazy Addin Fonua-Blake marker play to scoot over from dummy half in the 21st minute; Gutherson's conversion saw the Eels stretch their lead to 12-0, sucking the life out of the home crowd. With pressure mounting, the Warriors finally looked to be getting back on track; on the back of a couple of penalties, the Warriors stretched the Eel's defence and eventually found themselves on the scoreboard when they shifted to the left, putting Roger Tuivasa-Sheck over in the corner in the 29th minute, Shaun Johnson stepped up for the goal kicking duties but pushed his attempt to the right. The Eels didn't let the Warriors' scoring rattle them and got back to work; after earning a line dropout, Gutherson took possession 20 meters out on the right edge before cutting across the field and feeding Daejarn Asi with a dubious pass that the home crowd screamed was forward, Asi did not hesitate and scorched towards the Warriors try line before scoring next to the post in the 35th minute, Gutherson hit the conversion in what was the last scoring play of the first half which saw the Warriors go into the sheds down 18-4.

In a carbon copy of the first half, the Warriors came out strong, forcing errors and getting close to the Eels line as they dominated the first ten minutes. The Warriors looked to have scored their second try of the night when Ali Leiataua crashed over; however, the try was called back for a knock-on. The Warriors retained the momentum they had earned for the next 20 minutes. However, they struggled with their finishing, with the Eels refusing to let them back into the contest. Heading into the final 20 minutes of the contest, the Eels marched up the field on the back of a penalty before Dylan Brown shifted to the left, drawing several defenders before sending Talagi through a massive hole to score in the 59th minute in a play that essentially secured the win for the visitors after Gutherson conversion pushed their lead to 24-4. Five minutes later, the Eels were over again when Brown got involved again, evading several Warriors before putting Gutherson over for the visitors' fifth and final try of the evening, with the skipper adding another conversion to his tally, extending his sides lead to 30-4 with only 15 minutes left on the clock. The Eels were guilty of letting their foot off the gas with the finish line in sight, and the Warriors took advantage with tries to Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad in the 70th minute and Niukore in the 74th minute, which gave the fans present a slim hope of a miracle comeback, especially with the Eels reduced to 12 men after Tago was sent to the bin in the 75th minute, however, Johnson's poor goalkicking made it hard as he ended the night 1/4. With three minutes to go, it looked like Watene-Zelezniak was about to score a vital try after stepping Gutherson, but the visitor's Captain managed to strip the ball and secure his side the victory; Watene-Zelezniak did manage to score a try in the final moment of the game latching onto a Johnson crossfield kick which was successfully converted by Chanel Harris-Tavita, but it only made the score look flattering, with the Warriors letting another much-needed win slip, going down 30-20.

My Thoughts

Well, what a disappointing performance, I arrived at the Stadium Friday night full of optimism. A decent 17, including the return of SJ and CNK, should have seen the Warriors walk away with a relatively easy win over an Eels team that had not got a win away all season. The Warriors started both halves with intent, running hard and defending hard, but their inability to convert their opportunities and their constant issue of struggling to defend after adversity saw those starts go to waste. It was hard to watch the team fail to deliver in a game where everything was on the line; Only a select few in the 17 could leave the field with their heads held high, and it was just a shame that this team could not deliver in front of yet another massive home crowd. They did show some nice attacking phases in the final stage of the match, but the Eels had already checked out of the game at that point, so it's hard to praise.

I don't know what has gone wrong with the side in 2024; I know there has been a stack of injuries, but besides the wins against the Rabbitohs and Broncos, they have not really been convincing in any of their games so the injuries while playing the part are not the reason. Perhaps they came into the season overconfident, or there wasnt enough change to the game plan to counter what the opposition had prepared for, or maybe 2023 was simply an anomaly. The only ones who will know are the ones within the camp, so perhaps we will never find out.

However, the season is not done yet. The Warriors have four games left to play, and while they still have a slight chance of squeaking into the finals, it would take a brave person to back them right now after their less-than-stellar efforts in the past two weeks against the cellar dweller sides. All I want to see is this team show improvement and try to end the season on a high note.

There wasn't much to smile about, which brings me to my positives.

Match Positives

Luke Metcalf got through his 40 minutes in the NSW Cup unscathed; he had 55 metres from eight runs, five tackle breaks, four tackles with no misses or errors, and 70 metres from two kicks. Is it too early to bring him back to first grade? Perhaps, but he could be the spark they need.

Lastly, the fans, it's not been a great season, but seeing them sell out every home game and show up to support the team has been great. It will be interesting to see if everyone who bought tickets for the final home game will actually show up, and, more importantly, if the fans pack out the stadium again, will the Warriors put together a performance that will send those fans home happy?

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

Match Negatives

Once again, the errors ran rampant. The Warriors made 15 errors in this match, and unfortunately, many of them occurred during moments when the Warriors looked set to score. It was a combination of schoolboy errors and a lack of focus, and this match proved that regardless of who you are facing, if you continue to simply hand them the ball, you will struggle to compete.

In my review last week, I asked for more respect for the ball, but they went backwards here. 

Andrew Webster made one late change to the 17, moving Freddy Lussick into the starting spot, and I don't think it was the right play. The Warriors needed to start the game on the right foot, and the best way to do that would have been to have the Egan and Johnson combination out there. Lussick did have some nice dummy-half runs, but his delivery from the ruck is not as crisp as Egan's, which made the already clunky attack worse; he is better used later in the match against tiring forwards, so hopefully, Webster learns from this.

The attack was still poor; I already mentioned Lussick and the errors that played a part in the shocking attack. There were moments where it looked like the Warriors were ready to fore, but a wayward pass or a knock-on just sucked all momentum away. The forwards, for the most part, also lacked the punch we have seen the past few weeks, which didn't help. They have the talent to score points, but they need to get on the same page.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the Match goes to Mitchell Barnett.

It was pretty easy to pick Barnett here as one of only a select few who played well. In his 71 minutes on the pitch, he led his pack with 174 running metres, had no errors and made 39 tackles with only 2 misses. He did everything he could to keep the Warriors in the match, but unfortunately, the rest of the team let him down. 

He has been the standout player in this squad this season, and whatever he is drinking before the game, he needs to share it with the rest of the squad.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve is Moala Graham-Taufa.

Plenty of players could have got the nod here, but I have gone with Moala. 

It wasnt the best showing for the Rookie, ending the night with 3 errors and plenty of defensive misreads. He showed his promise when he held onto the ball with some solid runs with 154m from 14 runs, but it wasn't his night. He has plenty of talent but needs a lot of seasoning before he is in the discussion to become a regular first grader.

Next Round Thoughts and Prediction

The Warriors head back across the ditch to face the Dolphins, who lost 40-34 against the Roosters in Round 22.

Regarding the team I would pick, Dylan Walker failed his HIA, so he will miss this game. So I would bring Demitric Sifakula into the 17, either to start at lock or to join the bench with Jazz Tevaga moving into lock. I would also just bite the bullet and bring Luke Metcalf back into the halves and move Chanel Harris-Tavita to 14 in the place of Lussick.

The Dolphins have been on a decline for the past month, dropping out of the top eight. However, they showed a lot of fight against the Roosters this round, which concerns me. Both sides desperately need the win to keep their finals hopes alive, so I have all my fingers crossed that the Warriors get the job done; if they reduce those errors and get the attack to click, they have a shot.

I just don't see it happening, unfortunately, and I cannot pick them after the past two performances, so I am going with a Dolphins win by 8.

So, that was a shocking Round 22, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Is the Warriors' season over?

What changes would you make to the 17?

Where do you think the season went wrong for the Warriors?

What is your score prediction against the Dolphins?