NZ Warriors 2024 Round 25 Review: Bulldogs Second-Half Shutout Spoils SJ Farewell

After their disappointing Round 24 defeat to the Sea Eagles, the Warriors returned home for the last time this season. On a night dedicated to celebrating Shaun Johnson, with Go Media Stadium renamed in his honour, the Bulldogs spoiled the party by rallying from multiple deficits to clinch their first finals berth in eight years, winning 34-18.

What Went Down

After plenty of emotion on display, Shaun Johnson's night could not have started any worse when he fumbled his first touch of the ball. The Warriors dug deep and avoided being punished for that error, forcing the Bulldogs to make a mistake of their own. The Warriors got back on track and wasted little time; with the aid of some six again calls and a penalty, they found themselves deep in Bulldog's territory, and after a few chances, including Adam Pompey being held up over the line, the Warriors drew first blood when Luke Metcalf threw a short ball to Marcelo Montoya who barged his way over in the 9th minute. The Warriors kept the pressure on and, a few sets later, off the back of another Bulldogs error, were over again in the 14th minute when Metcalf hit Kurt Capewell with an, at best, flat pass before the second rower ran 20 metres untouched before scoring under the posts. The game started to settle into a back-and-forth battle, but the Warriors faced a setback in the 21st minute when Adam Pompey left the field injured and would not return. 

An error by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in the 23rd minute, followed by a penalty against Addin Fonua-Blake, swung momentum in the favor of the visitors; the Bulldogs came close to scoring on the right edge but were stopped right on the line by a great tackle from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad; however, they went straight back to work shifting the ball left, sending Bronson Xerri over in the 26th minute. A few moments later, in the 29th minute, the Bulldogs were over again when the Warriors were unable to catch a crossfield kick, and it was scooped up by Stephen Crichton. Matt Burton's conversion saw the Warriors' lead reduced to 2. The Bulldogs continued to silence the sellout crowd when Viliame Kikau broke the line before sending the ball to Kurtis Morrin to score in the 34th minute, handing the Bulldogs their first lead of the match. The Warriors did have the last laugh of the first half after an error and penalty from the Bulldogs saw the home side in prime position to attack, and a quick snipe from Wayde Egan in the 38th minute was successful as he burrowed his way over the line, SJ conversion saw the first half end with the Warriors regaining the lead to go into sheds ahead 18-16.

The Warriors started the second half with plenty of aggression, driving the Bulldogs back with each tackle; however, Burton got his side out of trouble with a massive 40/20. The visitors bombarded the Warriors' goalline multiple times, but the home side's defence held firm and eventually forced an error. They were unable to capitalise on it, though, as a few plays later, they made an error of their own. They defended that mistake and regained possession, only for controversy to strike in the 45th minute when Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was ruled out of the match and next week's game due to a shoulder hit to the head by Crichton, who survived going to the sin bin after the officials deemed that there was a high level of mitigation in the tackle. Both sides trade sets, with neither able to gain the upper hand and it wasnt until the 54th minute before the first points of the second half were scored when Harry Hayes scored the first try of his NRL career when he collected a Toby Sexton grubber kick. The Warriors had plenty of opportunities to regain the lead but struggled with their execution. The Bulldogs did not have the same issue as they marched down the field before Burton pushed through a grubber, which Josh Addo-Carr beat all the chasers to, diving on it just before it went over the dead-ball line in the 62nd minute, pushing the visitors lead to 10 after Burtons conversion. The Warriors' woes continued with back-to-back errors, and there was another situation with the officials in the 72nd minute, where Max King's shoulder connected with Mitchell Barnett's head, splitting the Warriors skipper's eyebrow. The referee was not interested in calling a penalty until Barnett's refusal to continue to play changed his mind. The penalty gave the Warriors more chances to reduce the lead but the Bulldogs defence continued snuffing anything the Warriors attempted to throw at it. An error from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in the 76th minute handed the Bulldogs a scrum from here; they secured their victory with a shift to the right, which saw Crichton break the line and surge down the field before sending Jacob Kiraz across for their sixth and final try of the night in what was the final scoring play of the night. Seeing the Bulldogs chase for a top-four finish still alive as well as earning their first victory at Mt Smart Stadium since 2012 with the 34-18 win.

My Thoughts

Well, that wasnt how we wanted this occasion to go; I predicted a Bulldogs win in my review last week but changed my mind during the week, ending up with a Warriors win prediction as I thought the boys would be up to sending SJ, Jazz Tevaga and AFB away with a win but it just wasn't to be.

I will admit that I was surprised at the emotions I felt as the boys came out on the pitch. I have been there for many club legends' final matches at that stadium: Stacey Jones (twice), Steve Price, Rueben Wiki, and Simon Mannering. However, watching SJ come out for the final time brought tears to my eyes. Never getting to watch him play live again will take time to get used to, but I will dwell on that more in my season review in a few weeks.

However, onto the actual match. The Warriors shot out to that early lead, but like so often this season, a 12-point lead is never secure. With more injuries seeing the Warriors' backline once again reshuffled, the Warriors' attack was clunky, and despite showing the will to throw the ball around, they just struggled to break through the much-talked-about Bulldogs defence. Say what you will about some of the calls that went against them (more on that a bit later), the Warriors had plenty of chances to get points here, but their attack is just not threatening enough right now, and at times, they simply looked out of ideas about how to crack the Doggies defence. There is a lot to work on for the club in the upcoming preseason, and it will be a big job for Andrew Webster and his coaching staff to reset and get things back on track. 

2024 has been a rough season of the promise that 2023 delivered. It hasn't been what we imagined it would be, and I am just looking forward to the break.

There were a couple of things to smile about, which brings me to my positives.

Match Positives

They kept fighting, and the Warriors showed off some second-phase football and didn't give up despite the adversity of a few bad calls and losing both centres. Unfortunately, while the fighting spirit was there, the execution was not. However, the positive from that is that if they can keep that attitude and keep pushing forward and fighting, the rest will work itself out. You can teach game plans and strategy, but you can't train the heart.

Demitric Sifakula continues to impress me; he got through 32 minutes in this match, running for 118 metres and making 13 tackles with zero misses. Like many of the youngsters in the squad, he is filled to the brim with potential and with another preseason under his belt, he will be in a great position to secure a regular spot in the 17 in 2025.

Lastly, the season is almost over; there is only one game remaining in a season we all can't wait to put behind us and forget. The club doesn't have that luxury, as they need to comb through the data from the season and start making plans to ensure they don't fall into the same situation in 2025.

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

Match Negatives

Another second-half shutout, the Warriors had plenty of chances to take control of the match in the final 40 minutes but just kept letting the Bulldogs off the hook. On that list of things that need to be fixed, the coaches must address finding a way to get consistent 80-minute performances out of this squad. I could be better with the statistics, so I am stealing one from Will at This Warriors Life. This match was the fourth at home where the Warriors had a great start of 12-0 or more before losing; that is not acceptable anywhere, let alone at home. Fix that, and they will climb up the ladder next year.

The Warriors' errors increased this week to 13. Admittedly, the errors started to rise when the Warriors threw the ball around a bit more to try and create opportunities to get back into the match, but they just needed to show the ball more respect.

There was rain, but it wasn't heavy, and it didn't seem to matter the intensity of the rain because as soon as it started, the Warriors fell apart. I can't explain why since they should be used to the wet conditions now. Add it to the fix-it list, Webby.

Lastly, the officials, I hate when people blame the officials, and I think the Warriors had more than enough chances to get the result here, but the officiating in this match was dreadful; firstly, the hit on RTS that didn't not result in a sin-bin, I usually would be OK with just a penalty, but the NRL drew a line in the sand at the beginning of the season that moment like that is a sin-bin. It didn't help matters that we saw so many sin-bins giving out in other matches throughout the round for less impactful hits. Then, later on in the half, we saw another high shot that split Mitchell Barnett's head, and the official was not willing to blow even a penalty and finally gave in, with Barnett simply refusing to play. You could argue that should have been a sin-bin also. It's just unacceptable; regardless of how good or bad your side is going, they deserve to be treated fairly, and we didn't see that here. I have delayed releasing my review as I want to see what Graham Annesley says in his press conference.

Annesley confirmed that the Crichton hit should have been a sin-bin but spent the rest of the conference defending the mistakes, so there is not much to say there, but surely the officials and their boss have to be in the firing line if things don't change.

Warrior of the Match

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

Another big night from AFB, the least visibly emotional Warrior out of the three playing their final game at Mt Smart, but he could not be accused of not trying. Ran for 124 metres, had 60 post-contact metres, and led his side with 49 tackles with zero misses. As a former prop, I gravitate towards the big boppers when it comes to the discussion of my favourite players, and I have been a massive fan of AFB in his stint as a Warrior, and it will be difficult seeing him in a Sharks jersey next season, but it has been a privilege watching him represent the Warriors, and I hope he has one big performance left in the tank for the final match of the Warriors 2024 campaign.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve is Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

It was hard to pick, as a handful of players could have gotten the nod here (namely Marata Niukore), but I went with DWZ because the Bulldogs managed to keep him quiet. He only had 89 running metres, made 2 errors, and allowed that 40/20 that got the Bulldogs out of trouble at the start of the second half. In his defence, the Warriors were not sending the ball out his way a lot, which did not help him out, but not stopping the 40/20 was terrible and a big momentum shifter in this match. He is another player who has had a significant drop from his 2023 form, but hopefully, he can find his groove again in 2025.

Next Round Thoughts and Prediction

The Warriors head back across the ditch for the final time in 2024 to face the Sharks, who defeated the Dragons 38-10 in Round 25.

Regarding the team I would pick, Webster said that RTS will not be available for this match after his head knock, so I would bring Ali Leiataua in for him. If that is the only injury, I would keep the remaining 17 the same.

The Sharks have been the least desirable of the current top-four sides but have been building nicely, with a four-match winning streak. They will be looking at this game as another chance to solidify their top-four spot and will be looking to make a statement. The Warriors will want to end their season on a high and send the boys who are playing their final game in Warriors colours out with a win. I've been saying it a lot the past few weeks, but if the Warriors are to get the job done, they need to reduce those errors, convert most of their opportunities into points and keep the Shark's backs quiet as they have a lot of threats out wide. I desperately want to see the Warriors win here, but I can't pick it as I think the Sharks at home will just be too strong, so I am going with a Sharks win by 16.

So, that was an emotional and frustrating Round 25, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What's your favourite SJ moment?

How would you fix the officials and bunker situation if you were in charge?

Who was your player to improve?

What is your score prediction against the Sharks?