NRL 2016 Round 9 Review - Ring In's Put Sword to the Dragons

Copyright Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.Photosport.nz

Well, what a week it has been for the Vodafone Warriors.
After the embarrassing result in Melbourne in Round 8 and then having 6 players being stood down due to what we have now learned was the misuse of prescription drugs, the Warriors had their backs to the wall.
With Simon Mannering and Tuimoala Lolohea out with injury already, things did not look great for a Warriors team that struggles to play the Dragons at the best of times.
Just before kick off things went from bad to worse for the Warriors with Thomas Leuluai being ruled out with a Hamstring injury bringing Jeff Robson back into the side.
Despite all of these changes, the Warriors came away with the victory 26-10.

The Key to victory came down to one thing ATTITUDE! watching from the sidelines you could see that the players were present and giving 100% which is something that has been sorely missed so far this season.
I looked at the young players in front of me on the interchange bench getting ready to get out on the field and seeing the excitement on their faces when they got the call to get out and play for the first grade side for the first time.
I think some of the older players (Namely the 6 that have been stood down) have forgotten what it means to play for this side and also forgotten that it is a privilege to be earned, not something they should automatically get just because they show up.
If I was in charged I would keep the majority of the 17 that played in this game for the foreseeable future as the played with guts and passion that has been lacking.

My player of the day goes to David Fusitu'a.
David continues to impress me, I cannot recall the last time I saw him play a bad game.
Losing Roger Tuivasa-Sheck for the season is a hard blow for the Warriors but David is a hell of a replacement.
Big things are going to be on the way for David mark my words.

My Player who needs to improve goes to the 6 players who were stood down.
I hope you have all taken a step back and got your priorities right and know that there are players in the reserve grades ready and willing to take your spots.
I have more to say about these players and the situation so I will write my thoughts on that shortly and put it up on here later this week.

Round 10 see's the Warriors travelling down to Christchurch and face the Penrith Panthers.
Jim Doyle has announced that all 6 players that were stood down last round are now all available for selection for this clash in a call that I don't agree with (One week off doesn't really let the seriousness of the situation sink in, in my opinion).
The Panthers have been tracking along a similar path to the Warriors and this game will be close.
I believe the Warriors will get the win here in a strong showing in front of the league starved Christchurch crowd.
If Andrew McFadden sticks with the side from the last round i think the young ring in's will continue to try and force their ways into the side permanently but then you could also make an argument that the 6 players that were stood down may very well walk back into this side and come out firing on all cylinders to show that they care about playing for the Warriors.
Either way, the Warriors need to show the same Attitude they displayed last round if they want to get this season heading in the right direction.

If you like what I’ve written or disagreed let me know, I would love to discuss anything Warriors related in the comments, share it with your friends on Facebook too as I want to get this out to as many people as I can and I know there are so many loyal Warriors fans happy to chat on there.

After a week away from the NRL with the international week, I can say that I cannot wait for this game.
Talk to you next week.

NRL 2016 Round 8 Review – Lest We Forget

Copyright Photo: www.heraldsun.com.au

Lest we forget is the line commonly used in regards to the Anzacs but I think all the Warriors fans will be looking at forgetting the Round 8 clash.

The anthems, the last post, a moment's silen
ce and the Melbourne Storm were all present for this clash, the only no-show for this event was the Vodafone Warriors in an embarrassing result losing 42-0.

After a tough fought win in Wellington the Warriors were looking at starting a run of form but right from kickoff the Warriors were on the back foot.

The Warriors defence also forgot to make the trip to Melbourne and the Storm took advantage of every hole the Warriors left open and never took their foot of the Warriors' throat.

The sin-binning of Blake Ayshford and injuries to Tuimoala Lolohea and Simon Mannering did not help matters as the Warriors went from bad to worse.

The Warriors were behind 28-0 at the break and appeared to improve for the second half but improvement meant preventing the Storm from scoring for the next 15 minutes and then the floodgates opened again with the Storm cruising to victory.

If I had to try to pinpoint what went wrong or the Warriors in this match I would have to say it all came down to attitude, the players appeared to not care, there was no urgency in the defensive line, silly penalties conceded and no attacking threat was present at all.

Where do they go from here? Well, you would hope that they couldn’t possibly get any worse.

Perhaps a complete clean out is required from Andrew McFadden to remove players that don’t seem to be putting the effort in.

Talk about the great depth the Warriors have has been mentioned all year so I say they should use it and bring in some of these other players that are desperate to play first grade they may not be at the same level as the current players but the Warriors need players willing to put effort in not only for the team but for the fans too, speaking of the fans…

My player of the day goes to the fans that stuck with the team and watched that abysmal performance for the entire 80 minutes.

At times, it feels like the fans are more dedicated and passionate about this club compared to the players.

As a fan myself I know how much this game hurt to watch and I know a lot of fans could not stomach the entire game.

The fans will continue to show their support myself included but I think it's fair that this team meet us in the middle and show some heart.

My player that needs to improve goes to the whole team, a major effort is required and you all need to look in the mirror and ask yourself if this really is the best you can do.

This week does not get any easier as the Warriors are playing the St George Illawarra Dragons at Mount Smart Stadium.

The Dragons have been horrible this season but when it comes to the Warriors they don’t seem to put a foot wrong.

The Warriors have not tasted victory versus the Dragons since 2007 and the Dragons are currently on an 11 game winning streak.

Since 1998, these teams have clashed 23 times and the Warriors have only won 4 times.

So the stats are against the Warriors and Andrew McFadden has rung the changes, two because of the injuries to Lolohea and Mannering and then another 5 due to disciplinary reasons (Konrad Hurrell was also affected but as he was not including in the top grade side this week he doesn’t count) but I will write about that saga in another post shortly.

Logic dictates that the Warriors are heading for another loss but I think if the Warriors show some heart and effort they will be able to come away with the victory against this lowly Dragons side.

If you like what I’ve written or disagree let me know, I would love to discuss anything Warriors related in the comments, share it with your friends on Facebook too as I want to get this out to as many people as I can and I know there are so many loyal Warriors fans happy to chat on there.

Hopefully, I will be writing about the Warriors being victorious next time but until then enjoy the game and talk later.

NRL 2016 Round 7 Review – A win in the Cake Tin

Copyright Photo: Marty Melville / www.Photosport.nz

The Warriors travelled to Westpac Stadium in Wellington for their Round 7 clash against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

History has not been good for the Warriors in Wellington; however they did not let this affect them and came away with a hard-fought victory 24-20.

In front of a crowd of just over 18,000 the Warriors managed to bully the Bulldogs forwards into submission early on, Ben Matulino showed that he was returning to form as he was continually hard for the defense to bring down and his quick play the balls gave Issac Luke the opportunities to run out of Dummy half quickly and catch the markers sleeping.

Solomona Kata was unlucky as his two tries were disallowed, the first just 4 minutes into the game was ruled incorrectly as a forward pass and the second was an unfortunate knock on as a Bulldogs defenders shoulder dislodged the ball.

The Warriors continued to attack though and found the line through the returning David Fusitu’a and Blake Ayshford and were leading 8-0 23 minutes into the first half.

Just before Blake scored Roger Tuivasa-Sheck went off with a knee injury (More on that below) and Thomas Leuluai was brought into the halves with Tuimoala Lolohea being sent out to fullback.

The Bulldogs started to show some promise and took advantage of the personal change and cut through the Warriors defense with two quick tries to Sam Perrett to get the Bulldogs ahead 10-8, Kerrod Holland added a final try at the 40^th minute to have the Bulldogs leading 14-8 at halftime.

The Warriors came out in the second half and showed to have adjusted to the on-field changes and scored again 6 minutes in with Jonathan Wright out leaping the Bulldogs to claim a Crossfield kick from Shaun Johnson, the remainder of the second half was majority in the Warriors favour as Lolohea crashed over for a scored from Dummy Half and Blake scored his second for the night taking the Warriors to a 24-14 lead, Kerrod Holland repeating his first half performance with another try in the 75 minute but the Bulldogs were unable to mount a comeback due to some poor last tackle options and they lacked the killer execution required to win.

Overall it was a very good performance from the Warriors, after last week’s lacklustre effort from the forwards they really showed up with some impressive runs straight out of the gate, this could always be due to the fact that the Bulldogs opted to have their premier props James Graham and Aiden Tolman start from the bench.

Bodene Thompson made a welcome return to the side and showed how much he was missed with strong defense and runs that had the defense second guessing themselves.

David Fusitu’a continued his top grade form, I cannot recall a bad game from him, let’s just hope that he does not get injured again as his attacking prowess is sorely needed.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been ruled out for the season with a ruptured ACL in his left knee so the Holy Trinity is looking for a replacement and I think Lolohea is up for the task, now while it is a shame that we did not get to see how the  Tuimoala half experiment would go having a player lie Thomas Leuluai there to jump in will help the Warriors in their quest to play finals football, Lolohea is an ideal replacement at Fullback and with continue to play the style he has played all year.

My player of the day goes to Bodene Thompson, as stated above the Warriors have really missed having him on the field, he is a hard working player renowned for his defense but he has been stepping up on attack this season and when he runs the ball he always seems to find a way to put the backs into open space and with a backline like the Warriors anytime they find open space the opposing team is in trouble.

My player who needs to improve was hard this round as I could not really find a player that played poorly so I am going on stats alone and picking Charlie Gubb, Charlie missed 4 tackles and only made 75 metres, the Warriors need a player like Charlie on their bench to bring some aggression into the game but if he continues to miss tackles like this they Warriors would be better suited to bring James Gavet back into the fold.

After this win the Warriors are heading to Melbourne for the always special Anzac day clash, as is the case most years this is the game of the round as both teams seem to bring their A-game.

The Warriors don’t have that bad of a record versus the Storm and have tied the Storm in games played at AAMI Park with both sides winning 3 apiece.

The Storm won the round 3 clash 21-14 but I see the Warriors coming away with the victory by at least 10 points this round, this team is gaining confidence and are on their way to the top 8.

If you like what I’ve written or disagree let me know, I would love to discuss anything Warriors related in the comments, share it with your friends on Facebook too as I want to get this out to as many people as I can and I know there are so many loyal Warriors fans happy to chat on there.

Hopefully, I will be writing about the Warriors being victorious next time but until then enjoy the game tonight and talk later.