NZ Warriors 2018 Round 21 Review: Gong drought over as Warriors vanquish Dragons

Copyright Photo: Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

Wishing to put the horrible performance in Round 20 behind them, the Warriors travelled down to Wollongong to the fortress called WIN Stadium where the Dragons have yet to be defeated in 2018.
Not only have the Dragons not lost at WIN Stadium this year but the Warriors have never tasted victory at the ground either.
However, 2018 continues to be the Warriors year of breaking hoodoos as they came away with a hard-fought 18-12 victory.

What a way to bounce back after the disaster on the Gold Coast, being labelled soft by your coach isn't easy to swallow, and the Warriors needed to bounce back, and they did just that with this performance.
The performance wasn't perfect, and they were their own worst enemies at times, but they showed heart and an improved attitude that harkened back to the beginning of the season.

A big shout out needs to go to Shani and the Warriors team for organising a supporters bus for the Warriors members to travel to the game together.
It looked like a fantastic experience and only strengthened my desire to get Brad's Ramblings across the ditch for a game next season and meet the likes of Warrior Nation and Josh Gage in the flesh, might have to try and force my way into the next View from the East Stand road trip.

In a stark contrast from last week, I have quite a lot of positives and not so many negatives so I will start off with my positives from the match.

The Warriors took advantage of the Matt Duftys sin-binning scoring all their points in that ten minutes, this is a considerable improvement when you rewind back to Round 12 where the Rabbitohs scored against the Warriors with a man in the bin.

The Warriors goal line defence was a welcome return and was the difference between winning and losing this match, the Dragons were throwing everything they could at the Warriors in the last 30 minutes of the game, and they held them out.
The highlight for me being yet another Roger Tuivasa-Sheck try saver where he stripped the ball out of Tim Lafai's hands over the line.

The attitude of the Warriors improved drastically this round, when they started to make some errors and let the Dragons back into the game at the beginning of the second half, my heart sank as I thought it was going to be a repeat of the Titans game but the Warriors kept their heads up and came together.
With the finals looming this attitude and desire needs to be consistently present if the Warriors are to make waves in the finals.

And lastly, the Warriors reduced their error count only making 6 errors in the match.
Unfortunately two of those errors lead to tries, but if the Warriors can keep their error tally in single digits, they will be well on track even more victories on the final stretch of the season.

As mentioned above this wasn't a flawless performance which leads me to my only negative of the match.

The Warriors need to reduce the penalty count, I think they were hard done by on a few calls, but in that second half they had 6 penalties called in a row, and if that happens again they could see a man in the bin or even worse see a victory slip away.
The Warriors have performed this best this year when they have towed that line so as long as they keep their defence strong, the Warriors can possibly afford a few extra penalties but the fewer chances they give the opposition with the ball the better it is for them.

I'm, sure there is more I could nitpick, but I feel like I still have a pair of rose-tinted glasses of as I can genuinely admit I did not expect the Warriors to come away with the win.
The Warriors record against the Dragons is poor, but it is fantastic to have in the record books that in 2018 the Warriors ended the Dragons win streak and also handed them their first defeat at WIN Stadium.

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My Warriors of the match goes to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
As I said last week when I pick Roger as my Warrior to improve I believed it was a blip and that he would bounce back and boy did he ever.
To say Roger had a strong game is an understatement, he ran hard and fast, creating chances for the Warriors backline to score and did not shirk his defensive responsibilities.
Roger exemplifies the attitude the Warriors showed this week, you can see that he is giving it 100% for the entire 80 and that has to rub off on the rest of the team.
If the rest of the side can match Roger's commitment for the remainder of the season, I feel like they could have a decent chance in upsetting some of the playoff favourites.

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My Warrior to improve goes to David Fusitu'a.
This was hard as I think the majority of the side had a good performance, but unfortunately for David, he made 3 errors in the second half, three doesn't sound like much, but when the Warriors only made 6 mistakes, it makes 3 errors a bigger deal.
It didn't help that 2 of his errors lead to the Dragons only tries in the match.
Much like Roger last week, David's performance this week was an anomaly, and I firmly believe that David will bounce back this week.

In round 22 the Warriors return to Mount Smart to face the Newcastle Knights, with 3 of the last 4 games of the season being played at home the Warriors need to turn around their poor form at home.
Its hard to believe that the Warriors have only won 4 games at home this season when they just notched up their 8th away victory for the year.
If the Warriors can win the rest of their home games, they may still have a legitimate chance of making the top four again.
The Knights have been a bit up and down the past few rounds and im picking the Warriors to get the win by 10 here.
The Warriors are going to need to shut down Kalyn Ponga plain and simple, and if they play like they did in Wollongong, then they have a great chance of getting the win here.

So that was my take on a fantastic Round 21, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What was your biggest positive from this performance?
Who was your player to improve?
How many wins do you see the Warriors getting in the last 4 Rounds?
What is your score prediction for Round 22?

NZ Warriors 2018 Round 20 Review: Woeful Warriors return in Gold Coast blowout

Copyright Photo: www.titans.com.au

After last weeks tight encounter against the Storm the Warriors made their way to the Gold Coast to face the Titans.

The Warriors have enjoyed a rich vein of form against the Titans, winning the past six matches between the two and a comprehensive victory for the New Zealand side was expected by most fans and pundits alike.

The Titans didn't read the form guide however and put the Warriors to the sword with a resounding 36-12 defeat.

Well, I think Stephen Kearney described the Warriors performance in this match best when he labelled the Warriors soft after they fell to pieces in the second half.

The first half performance was more composed than last week most likely due to the return of Blake Green but then that second half came, and the Warriors were truly awful, lacking cohesion and making silly errors on both attack and defence.
I'm not sure what happened in the sheds at halftime, but whatever it was the Warriors need to steer clear of it for the remainder of the season.
Perhaps the Warriors like myself took this game lightly and suffered the consequences of taking their eyes off the prize.
Hopefully, it is the kick in the pants the Warriors need on the final stretch of the 2018 season.
There isn't much to praise, but I do have a select few highlights which leads me to my positives of the match.

The Warriors should welcome back Tohu Harris, Issac Luke and Adam Blair to the game day 17 for this weeks clash against the Dragons.
This is a must-win game for the Warriors, and the Dragons are going to be a challenge but having those three experienced players back will give the Warriors a fighting chance.

My last positive is the young guns Isaiah Papali'i and Joseph Vuna.
In a game where the majority of the side underperformed these two played well beyond their years, it's hard to believe that they are as young as they are.
Papali'i has a bright future and will be a mainstay for the Warriors for years to come as long as his body holds up to the weekly grind of the NRL.
Vuna has impressed me over the past few weeks and while he still has a lot to learn he has time and size on his side.
With the injured players returning I think he has done enough to hold onto a bench spot with Chris Satae and Sam Lisone being the most likely to be dropped back into reserve grade.

That is all I can pick out as positives which brings me to my negatives.

Kearney still appears to be clueless when it comes to his interchange rotation, he had Jazz Tevaga out on the field too long again, instead of moving him into the middle forward role when Karl Lawton came on he should have taken him off for a rest.
In weeks past you could argue that he needed Jazz out there for long periods but Jazz moving into the forward role in this game just meant reduced minutes for Simon Mannering.
Paasi and Gavet also played limited minutes (albeit Gavet's minutes took a hit due to his injury from the crusher tackle).
 I feel like a broken record, but Paasi needs at least 60 minutes of game time each week, I would have him start the first 30 minutes and then return for the final 30.
Paasi is excellent at eating those metres and adds defensive pressure in the middle of the field, and that is too much of an edge for the Warriors to leave on the sidelines.

The Warriors attack was one dimensional, and the Titans were able to shut them down at ease.
To be honest, if Warriors want to be one dimensional, they could have at least just kicked to David Fusitu'a in the corner, but they didn't even do that.
I think the primary issue was the loss of Issac Luke, he is the glue that keeps this team together, and without him, the Warriors lost the edge they would have had in the ruck area.
With him back this week I think the Warriors will once again be on the same page attack wise.

Lastly, the Warriors as Kearney put it were soft, the Warriors fell apart at the seams in that second half, and it was all down to attitude.
They fell off tackles and did not keep their defensive line in check finding themselves in a two on one situation far too often.
It was an embarrassing performance to witness against a side they should have blown off the park.
I'm confident that the Warriors will do some soul searching this week and will put on a better performance in Round 21 and against the Dragons they are going to need it.

Copyright Photo: www.stuff.co.nz

My Warrior of the game goes to Leivaha Pulu.
Pulu was a key performer at the start of the Season, and the Warriors got the wobbles when he got injured, and in his first game back he showed no signs of ring rust putting on a solid performance where many around him faltered.
He ran strong and offered the Warriors second phase opportunities, defensively he started to slip towards the end of the game with match fitness possibly being an issue, but he will be integral to the Warriors push to return to the playoffs.
I expect him to be starting this week and continuing his fine form.

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My Warrior who needs to improve goes to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
I almost could have put the majority of the side in this category this week, but Roger had a day to forget on the Gold Coast.
The Titans heaped the pressure on Roger, and he usually is able to rise above it, but it just wasn't to be in this match.
As the points piled on Roger appeared to get worse, making errors out the back that he usually never would make.
It is a blip on the radar for Roger, and he will bounce back this week, players of his calibre rarely underperform in back to back games, so I expect a strong showing from him this week.

Round 21 has the Warriors heading to WIN Stadium to face the St George Illawarra Dragons in what is going to be a tough task.
The Warriors seldom walk away from WIN Stadium with a victory, but they desperately need the two points this week to keep themselves in contention for the playoffs.
To beat the Dragons, the Warriors are going to need a massive performance from the forward pack, and the whole side needs to front defensively to stop the Dragons getting a roll on.
As cliche as it is, this game will be decided by whichever teams forwards get the edge, both sides have lethal threats in the backline, but you have to do the work up front before you can cash in out wide.
I'm picking the Dragons to win by 12 here, I think they will be too strong for the Warriors, but hopefully, my prediction is wrong once again.
The View from the East Stand Podcast crew are making the trip across the ditch for this match so have a listen to their episode this week to hear their plans for the weekend if you are in Sydney and want to meet up and say hi.

So that was my take on an awful Round 20, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Do you think Kearney has an issue with the interchange rotation?
What players would you drop for the returning Luke, Harris and Blair?
Who was your Warrior to improve from Round 21?
What is your score prediction for Round 21?

NZ Warriors 2018 Round 19 Review: Poor execution the difference in tight tussle

Copyright Photo: storm.com.au

After their exciting round 18 victory at Suncorp Stadium, the Warriors were back at Mount Smart to face the Melbourne Storm.
After the embarrassment of the Anzac day clash, the Warriors were looking for revenge, but it was not to be as they lost a much closer battle 12-6.

What a tight game this was, the Warriors showed more spirit in this match than they did in their round 8 encounters against the Storm.
Unfortunately, the Warriors lacked the execution that you need when you play a side like Melbourne, a large part of this I believe was due to the late withdrawal of  Blake Green.
Blake has been integral in leading this Warriors team around the park and in his absence.
I don't believe that Shaun Johnson and Mason Lino were up to the task in this match, making some questionable choices and not trying to settle the side down when time was running out, cool heads needed to prevail, and it felt like the team was panicking and just throwing the ball around without thought.

It wasn't all bad by any means which leads me to my positives.
The Warriors defensive effort improved in this performance, still too many missed tackles for my liking, but there weren't too many areas of the defensive line that the Storm could target.
Gerard Beale is adding some much-needed structure on the right edge, but if I could nitpick one thing, it would be Solomona Kata's desire to rush out of the defensive line nearly everytime the Storm ran his way.

Paasi shined once again with another strong performance. Unfortunately, Stephen Kearney forgot that he was in the side and only gave him 41 minutes in this match.
I firmly believe that if Paasi were given more minutes, the Warriors would have won this matchup.
He fights for every metre and is always a nuisance defensively.
He can play more minutes as he showed last week so they should be using him more.

Lastly, the Warriors did not give up in this match, even in the dying stages of the game they were still pushing the Storm to the limit, but they were just unable to finish their opportunities.
It's a learning lesson for the Warriors and a close hard fought match like this is perfect when it comes to preparing for finals football, and I think with Blake Green back the Warriors will have a better chance of converting their opportunities into points and ultimately getting them the win.

There were still areas of concern though which leads me to my negatives.

First up the referees were not up to scratch not only in this match but in several this round.
In this match however they missed forward passes for both sides, and Cameron Smith's high shot on Ken Maumalo was impossible to miss yet for some reason they missed it.
The NRL need to do something about the poor performances from the referees as it really makes the games frustrating to watch.
Don't get me wrong the Referees were not the reason that the Warriors lost this match I just want some accountability if the officials perform poorly.

Stephen Kearney still seems unable to effectively use his interchange, with Peta Hiku's injury during the week we finally have three forwards on the bench, but he just left his players off the field for too long.
At one stage Kearney had Simon Mannering, James Gavet and Agnatius Paasi all sitting on the bench, against the Storm you cannot keep players like that on the bench for as long as Stephen did, im hopeful that one day he will get it but it most likely won't be this season.

My last negative is the lack of execution.
Shaun Johnson and Mason Lino did not mesh, and neither player seemed to put there hand up to lead the team.
It's no secret that Shaun performs better when he doesn't have the pressure on him to steer the ship but with Mason joining him in the halves he really needed to step up, and he just didn't deliver.
Several times throughout this match they both looked lost and made silly decisions, the play that sticks out in my mind was when Mason put a grubber through for himself on the 2nd tackle when he had a two-man overlap on his outside.
All this will be fine if Blake returns next week but if he doesn't Shaun needs to step up.

Copyright Photo: Getty Images

My Warrior of the game goes to Ken Maumalo.
Ken continues to impress me each and every week, it's hard to believe that this is the same player that couldn't seem to hold onto the ball last season.
His runs are critical to the Warriors performances every week, and it's a joy watching him when he makes a break.
He still has a lot of room to develop, and I believe the best is yet to come from big Ken.

Copyright Photo: Getty Images

My Warrior to improve is Simon Mannering.
After announcing his retirement during the week, I thought a weight would be lifted from his shoulders, but this week he seemed to make a lot of errors that he wouldn't usually do.
He was off on his passing game and tried to offload when it wasn't on.
I think it may have been more a fact that Simon was trying too hard and it just wasn't working.
I firmly believe that this was a blip, Simon will bounce back strong as he nears his 300th game and will finish his career off with much better performances.

Round 20 has the Warriors heading back across the ditch to face the Gold Coast Titans.
The Titans have been the Warriors whipping boys for the past few seasons, and I feel that this trend will continue with the Warriors winning this match by 12.
With the ladder as congested as it is the Warriors really need to get a big win here to improve their points differential.
There is still a buffer between 8th and 9th place, but the Warriors need to add to their win tally to keep themselves comfortably in playoff contention.
Blake Green and Issac Luke should both return this round, but Adam Blair has been cited and will miss one game if he pleads guilty and two weeks if he fights it and loses.
If it were me I would take the guilty plea as missing the match against the Dragons is too big a risk.
Pulu will most likely return to the side in Blair's place after a strong return in reserve grade this week.

So that was my take on a deflating round 19, but as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Do you think that the Cameron Smith high shot should have been a penalty?
Who was your Warrior to improve?
Would you rush Pulu back into the side?
What is your score prediction for Round 20?