NZ Warriors 2025 Round 6 Review: Warriors Wilt in Melbourne Mauling as Losing Streak Hits 17

After having their first Bye of 2025, the Warriors made the trip across the ditch to face the Storm.

The Melbourne Hoodoo continue here as the Warriors collapsed in a nightmare first half, conceding 36 unanswered points and losing Skipper James Fisher-Harris to injury in a 42-14 thrashing by the Storm.

What Went Down

The Warriors kicked off to start the match but managed to regain possession after the Storm made a lacklustre attempt to defuse the kick, setting themselves up deep in Storm territory. However, they let the home side off the hook with an error near the try line. The Storm pounced on the loose ball and surged upfield. After a few sets, they shifted it left, where Xavier Coates crossed in just the 2nd minute. Ryan Papenhuyzen converted to give Melbourne an early 6-0 lead.

Looking to build pressure, the Storm were halted briefly by an error from Jack Howarth, allowing the Warriors to start a set inside Melbourne's half. The Warriors couldn't break through the line despite a few strong carries. A clever grubber forced a dropout, and they recovered the short kick to earn another full set close to the line, but a loose pass on the last was intercepted by Coates.

Melbourne easily rolled up the field, but Jahrome Hughes mistimed a kick that sailed dead. The Warriors struggled to get into rhythm, with Erin Clark coughing up possession. Though they held strong defensively, another error handed the Storm another attacking opportunity. Again, the Warriors held firm, with Coates spilling a kick in-goal.

Finally completing a set, the Warriors looked to settle, but Hughes, despite carrying a shoulder knock, nailed a 40/20. The Storm wasted no time, with Josh King barging over in the 14th minute. Papenhuyzen made it 12-0.

After a brief back-and-forth, Melbourne blew the game open. Their offload game tore the Warriors apart, and a break from Coates set up Shawn Blore to score in the 20th minute. Another conversion from Papenhuyzen stretched the lead to 20-0.

On the very next set, the Storm went close again. Grant Anderson flew down the right edge and found Moses Leo, who looked sure to score, until Luke Metcalf pulled off a stunning try-saving tackle. However, the Warriors were penalised for Jackson Ford holding a player back, gifting Melbourne another chance. They made it count, with Trent Loiero diving over off an offload in the 23rd minute. The conversion made it 26-0, and Ford was sent to the sin bin for the infringement. To make matters worse, James Fisher-Harris was confirmed to be ruled out with a pec injury, leaving the Warriors with just three on the bench.

Down to 12 men, the Warriors couldn't hold the Storm out. Coates broke away again and handed it off to Harry Grant, who scored untouched in the 27th minute. Papenhuyzen's conversion pushed the margin to 30-0.

The onslaught continued. Melbourne went the length of the field on the next set, exploiting a bunched-up Warriors defence. They shifted right, and Anderson scored unopposed in the corner. Another Papenhuyzen conversion made it 36-0.

Melbourne kept the pressure on, winning a penalty deep in Warriors territory. A well-weighted early grubber from Papenhuyzen forced another dropout. The short restart didn't go to plan for the Warriors, giving the Storm more red-zone possession. They nearly scored again through Grant, but Demitric Vaimauga did well to strip the ball as the hooker dived over.

With time winding down in the first half, the Warriors finally got a penalty and looked sharper on the ball. Metcalf forced a dropout after a grubber was taken dead by Cameron Munster. The Storm's short dropout bounced awkwardly and stayed in the in-goal, giving the Warriors a golden opportunity 10 metres out. But they couldn't capitalise, with Rocco Berry spilling the ball as the halftime siren sounded. The Warriors went into the sheds trailing 36-0.

The Storm opted to rest Jahrome Hughes for the second half with the game pretty much in the bag. The Warriors looked focused early on, but handling errors continued to plague them. Adam Pompey spilled the ball on just their second set. However, their defense stood tall, and they earned a seven-tackle set when Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad caught a Storm kick in-goal on the full. Unfortunately, Nicoll-Klokstad suffered a head knock on the very next play and was forced from the field for an HIA, he would not return.

Although the Warriors completed that set, they posed no real attacking threat. Both sides then traded sets until the Storm were awarded a penalty for a late hit on the kicker. The Warriors challenged the decision and were successful, with the bunker finding that Blore had illegally taken Rocco Berry out of play during his catch attempt. That flipped the penalty in the Warriors' favor.

A few tackles later, they earned another penalty for a high shot. Momentum seemed to be turning their way, but it didn't last. Vaimauga lost the ball near the tryline, wasting a promising opportunity.

A few sets on, the Warriors sparked to life after a powerful run from Ali Leiatua took them deep into Storm territory. Moments later, Chanel Harris-Tavita put a kick towards the goal line for Leka Halasima, who snatched it out of the air and muscled his way over the line in the 54th minute. Metcalf added the extras to make it 36–6.

With points finally on the board, the Warriors found some rhythm. A strong set followed by a Storm error from an intercepted pass gave them another chance. However, as pressure was building, Jackson Ford's handling error halted their momentum. The Storm made them pay, executing a smooth shift to the left that saw Xavier Coates streak downfield, brush off Taine Tuaupiki, and drag Metcalf over the line in the 58th minute. Papenhuyzen remained perfect with the boot, extending the Storm's lead to 42–6. Despite the margin, the Warriors kept fighting. In the 62nd minute, a cutout pass found Pompey, who powered his way over but was held up over the line. They then swung the ball right, only for Tuaupiki to spill it. The Storm nearly punished them again with some dangerous runs, but the Warriors hung on.

A strong burst from Erin Clark put the visitors back on the front foot. Metcalf tried to capitalise with a chip-and-chase but couldn't regather. On their next set, the Warriors were again on the Storm's line, but execution failed them; Capewell's mistimed pass to Berry flew into touch.

Melbourne then surged back upfield, only to lose the ball near the tryline. The Warriors returned the favor when Berry lost possession in a tackle. They challenged the call, but it was upheld.

The Storm threatened again with some half-breaks, but the Warriors defended gamely and earned a seven-tackle set when Munster's grubber went dead. The Warriors made it back to the Storm's red zone, a clever grubber from Clark almost resulted in a try for Vaimauga, but he lost the ball over the line.

With the result beyond doubt and several Storm stars resting, errors crept into their game, and finally, some fortune came the Warriors' way. A kick into the in-goal was picked up by Moses Leo, who lost the ball in contact, allowing Berry to pounce and score in the 74th minute. Metcalf missed the conversion, leaving the score at 42–10. In the final minute, a high shot on Metcalf gave the Warriors one last attacking set. This time, they executed perfectly, shifting the ball right until Metcalf spotted a gap and darted through to score in the 79th minute. He missed the conversion, and the match ended in a 42–14 defeat, marking the Warriors' 17th consecutive loss to the Storm.

My Thoughts

Well, that was a disappointing display. This losing streak is becoming too much of an anchor around the neck of this club. The Warriors started well with a nice kickoff, but the Storm tore them to shreds when they had to defend. It became hard to watch as the Storm turned the first half into a training run, making easy work of the Warriors' Defence. The loss of James Fisher-Harris early on did not help the Warriors' cause, but they had already conceded easy points before he left the match, so it wasn't like his injury caused this collapse. They just struggled against the Storm's second-phase football, an issue that was exposed in Vegas against the Raiders, too and something that needs to be sorted ASAP. They looked rattled and played like it, making plenty of silly errors. The second half did show signs of improvement with the Warriors looking more competitive; however, the Storm had taken off their key playmaker at that point. Leka Halasima made a significant impact but was only brought on in the second half; perhaps bringing him on earlier in the contest could have helped stop the Storm barrage, but we will never know. I said last round that there was still plenty to work on, but at least the Warriors showed slight improvements in each performance. But they took a big step backwards here, and the season only gets tougher, so they need to dust it off, focus on fixing what went wrong and get back to work.

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

Match Positives

As I already mentioned above, the Warriors showed some fight in the second half. The game was already over, but they didn't give up and continued to try to claw their way back into the contest. It's a shame they waited until it was 36-0 before that fight appeared, but at least it did, and we didn't have to witness another 70-10 smashing like we had to suffer in 2022. 

Hopefully, this heavy defeat provides a wake-up call to the team. I'm not in the inner circle, so I can only speculate, but perhaps after three wins in a row, the team started to buy into their own hype and got an embarrassing reminder of how far behind the top sides they still are. This performance should ground them and refocus them on the task at hand. It may be the ever-present optimist in me, but I want to see this team succeed, and the only way is up from here. They cannot let this loss derail them.

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

Match Negatives

The Warriors killed so many of their opportunities with silly errors that they ended the match with 14 in total. With no respect for the ball, they could not build any pressure, and as I've said countless times over the years, you cannot afford to hand any team in the NRL 14 extra sets. Most of the errors were simple schoolboy ones that showed a lack of concentration. They have been decent so far this season in keeping their mistakes low, so if they can return to their previous form, they can return to the winner's circle.

The attack still looks clunky and disjointed at times. Admittedly, most of the first half, they were either dropping the ball or defending, so we only got to see the attack properly in the second half; however, they struggled to ask many questions on the Storm's defensive line and had to rely on individual efforts to create thier opportunities, Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita are still learning to work together and while it doesnt look very cohesive right now the Warriors just need to stick with it and let their combination grow. Hopefully, the attack will start to look more dangerous soon.

Lastly, the injuries, losing James Fisher-Harris and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, did not make this match any easier. Still, I'm more concerned with the next few weeks. Fish is a massive loss upfront, but the young forwards in the club are eager for more responsibility, so I'm confident they will step up until he returns. It's the outside backs I'm more concerned with, the Warriors already have low back stocks, and now adding CNK to the injury ward sees the Warriors without any of their first-pick back three, which takes away plenty of firepower out of the Warriors' attack. I have my fingers crossed that they all return sooner than predicted.

Warrior of the Match

My Warrior of the Match goes to Erin Clark.

Not the way Clark would have wanted his 100th NRL match to go, but he was only one of a select few who looked dangerous out there. Finished the game with 144 running meters and 31 tackles in his 44 minutes of playing time. Showed a bit more of his playmaking side with a nice little grubber that almost secured a try. He never showed any signs of giving up, even with the game out of reach, and he consistently bent the defensive line when he got hold of the ball. I was skeptical of Clark's signing when it was announced, but he has impressed me every week and is making that Lock position his own and becoming a key figure in this Warriors pack.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve is Marata Niukore.

After this performance, there were many options for this category, but I went for Niukore because I barely noticed him out there. He made nine runs for 74 metres and made 26 tackles with only two misses. However, when the Warriors lost James Fisher-Harris early, I expected to see him step up and play a more significant role, and he just didn't rise to the occasion. He can be a devastating ball runner, but the Warriors need him to contribute more consistently, especially with James Fisher-Harris potentially missing many matches.

Next Round Thoughts and Prediction

In Round 7, the Warriors return to Mt Smart to host the Broncos, who also suffered defeat in Round 6, going down 26-16 to the Roosters.

As for the team I'd select, with the likely absences of James Fisher-Harris and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, there needs to be some changes. For CNK, I would move Taine Tuaupiki to fullback and bring Ed Kosi back onto the wing. For JFH, I would move Bunty Afoa or Jackson Ford to the starting lineup and bring Jacob Laban onto the bench. Rocco Berry looks set to miss a week or two with a ban for a head high, so if he is out, I don't know who else to bring in with the current low back stocks so perhaps Moala Graham-Taufa gets the callup.

The Broncos have been inconsistent this season. They are almost unbeatable at their best, but when they have an off day, they have weaknesses that can be exploited. To walk away with a victory here, the Warriors must wrap the ball carrier up and stop the offloads. The Warriors will be missing some talent, so the rest of the team needs to step up to fill the void, especially in the pack, as they need to shut Payne Haas down, in the backs, they just need to mark up and reduce the time and space that Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh have, do that and reduce thier errors then they do have a chance. However, I think the Broncos will be too strong with the Warriors down on men and confidence, and I'm picking the Broncos to win by 16.

So, that was a disappointing Round 6, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Who was your player of the match?

Did this loss dampen your finals expectations?

Who are you bringing in to replace the missing players?

What is your score prediction against the Broncos?