Ingers League Wrap-Up

Monday, July 15, 2019

NZ Warriors 2019 Round 17 Review: Warriors squander lead in nail-biting draw

After last weeks narrow victory over the Knights, the Warriors were on the road once again this time heading to Suncorp Stadium to face a Brisbane Broncos outfit brimming with confidence after their defeat of the Cronulla Sharks.
With both teams sitting on 6 wins and 9 losses, walking away with a victory here was crucial to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Despite leading 16-6 at half-time, the Warriors could not get the job done as the Broncos clawed their way back into the match and forced the game into golden point where neither team was able to gain the upper hand resulting in the first draw since 2016.

What to say about this performance?
I knew this match was going to be tough, but after that first-half lead, I thought the Warriors were well on the way to securing the win here, but it looked like they stopped trying to win the match and were too focused on holding onto the lead.
The injury to Ken Maumalo in the second half didn't help matters, and his absence left a massive hole in the Warriors attacking sets, and their last tackle options left a lot to be desired (more on that below).

It was yet another game that the Warriors should have won this year and it's frustrating to see them let precious competition points slip through their fingers once again, but at least they walked away with a point which leads me to my positives from the match.

The Warriors looked dangerous in the first half, running with intent and creating opportunities almost at will.
Peta Hiku was linking well once again with Maumalo, and they were causing headaches for the Broncos all night until Maumalo left the field, Hiku's move to the wing dampened his impact on the game slightly, but he still provided some strong runs.

Against a sizeable forward pack, the Warriors pack fronted on the attack and were in the fight for the majority of the contest, the platform they set allowed Kodi Nikorima to create some opportunities for the backline, and if the pack can keep that form going this week, you can expect to see some exciting tries.

The fitness shone again, playing for 90 minutes is no easy feat, and some of the Warriors had ridiculous stats, Tuivasa-Shecks 367 running metres and Jazz Tevaga's 72 tackles (not including Jazz ran for 184 metres also) being the standouts.
You can be disappointed in the result, but it would be unfair to not praise the individual efforts by many of the men on that field, combining those efforts as a team was where they let themselves down.

Speaking of letdowns, that leads me to my negatives from the performance.

The Warriors last tackle options were terrible, against the Knights the Warriors were making great inroads with grubber kicks, but in this match, they almost always decided to run on the last.
Nikorima has plenty of pace and can create something out of nothing at times, but they cannot do this on every set.
Blake Green needs to step up and take control of this team or move out of the way for Chanel.

The forwards may have had a good night on attack, but their defence needs work, the Warriors were weak up the middle of the park, and the Broncos took advantage, charging up the middle and utilising some nice inside balls to unleash Payne Haas and Tevita Pangai Junior.
The Warriors need to sort out their ruck defence now as the Sharks will be charging up the middle of the park all night long on Friday night.

The errors and penalties in the second half turned the tide in favour of the home team, and the Warriors have been guilty of silly mistakes all year.
Perhaps it's a case of low confidence, but when the pressure comes, the Warriors tend to fold right now, playoff hopes may be gone, but if the Warriors can sort this out, they will at least get themselves a chance to end the season on a high note.

I never thought I would do this, but my Warrior of the night was Adam Blair.
This was Blair's best game since he joined the New Zealand club, a superb solo effort try, 188 running metres and 31 tackles rounded out a good night for the veteran second rower.
With Tohu Harris still out with injury, the Warriors need this version of Blair to stick around and lead the pack from the front.

My Warrior to improve goes to the other second rower Isaiah Papali'i.
Papali'i did make 50 tackles, but it has been apparent in 2019 that his attack needs some work, he is prone to handling errors and makes poor decisions with the ball in hand too often.
With the wingers this team has, the second rower's ability to link with the centres to create overlaps to unleash Fusitu'a and Mauamlo in the corners is crucial, and right now you cannot bank on Papali'i being that link.
He is young and still has plenty of time to develop, and I'm hopeful that he will grow into a balance footballer and not spend his career being a tackling machine.

Round 18 sees the Warriors take a home game to Wellington when they host the Cronulla Sharks.
The Sharks have not had the best run of form recently and will be looking at turning their fortunes around with a win in the Cake Tin.
The Warriors, on the other hand, need to get the win here if they want to keep their slim top eight hopes alive.
Ken Maumalo should be fit to return, and the Sharks sound like they will be without Shaun Johnson, Josh Dugan, Josh Morris and Andrew Fifita so if the Warriors have a decent chance of getting the win here.
I don't see it unfortunately as I'm picking the Sharks to come away with the win here by 10.

It should be a good game, however, and I'm making the journey down the island to watch it in my first live game away from Mount Smart in what feels like an age.
I'm looking forward to the trip and hopefully will be able to catch up with some of you who are also making the trip.
I will be keeping an eye out of Facebook for where everyone is meeting up before the match and will let you know where I am on my page so if you see me having drinks before the game come and have a chat.

So that was my take on an unfortunate Round 17, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

How would you fix the Warriors second-half collapses?
Who was your player of the match and player to improve?
Who would be your starting lock, Tevaga or Burr?
Are you travelling to the Cake Tin and what is your prediction for Round 18?

Monday, July 8, 2019

NZ Warriors 2019 Round 16 Review: Warriors second half bounce back secures win over depleted Knights

After last weeks disappointing Golden Point defeat, the Warriors made the journey to Newcastle to face a Knights side missing 6 of their regular first graders.
Desperate to keep their season alive, the Warriors did enough to walk away the victors 24-20

This was always going to be a tough match to review, a win for the Warriors would have had an asterisk next to it due to the number of players the Knights had out, but a defeat would have been unacceptable due to the Knights missing talent.

I was nervous before the game, the Warriors had a similar situation last year when they played a Panthers side minus their stars and were well and truly humbled, so I was glad the Warriors did not take the Knights lightly.
The first half was forgettable (more on that below), but the Warriors came out in the second half and fought their way back into the match with the much-needed return of second phase football.
It wasn't an excellent performance by any stretch but seeing the Warriors wanting the result more than their opponents for the first time in a while left me with a smile on my face which leads me to my positives.

I'm not sure what was said by Kearney or the senior players at halftime, but it worked.
Being down 12-2 at the break, I was almost resigned to the fact that the Warriors were done for, due to how many times this season the Warriors collapsed in the second half.
I still think the Warriors playoff hopes are over, but if the Warriors can perform for the rest of the season like they did in this second half, then they may string some wins together and creep up the ladder.

With injuries to Karl Lawton, Bunty Afoa and Peta Hiku, the Warriors spent a lot of the second half with a reduced bench, this meant that the forwards had to play extended minutes and I thought they did well.
My standouts were Agnatius Paasi, Lachlan Burr and Sam Lisone.
Paasi was strong up front, running for 152metres and relentless with his tackling, the sin-bin was unfortunate but was expected as the Warriors were trying to wind down the clock.
Burr had a strong showing and continues to be one of my favourites this season, he adds much-needed size to the pack, and his offloads helped get the Warriors into scoring situations, the Warriors continue to perform better when he is on the field, so I hope that he returns to the starting 13 next week.
And then there was Lisone, I think this was the best performance from Sam in a long time, running strong but also showing his passing game feeding the forwards outside him with some clinical passes.
He performance was rewarded with a try, and if he can perform like this regularly, he may find himself back first-grade fulltime and perhaps even get a new contract.

Lastly, it was good to see the return of the offloads, 10 in total.
The Warriors are at their best when they get into second phase allowing their talent in their backline to tear defences to shreds.
If the Offloads stick around, the Warriors give themselves a higher chance of walking away with the two points.

It wasn't a perfect performance, however, which leads me to my negatives.

That first half was horrible, even though the Warriors had a few scoring chances for the majority of the first 40 minutes they Warriors were guilty of the predictable attack that has plagued them for the majority of the 2019 season.
One out running with an aimless kick on the fifth is not NRL level let alone top-eight material, so the Warriors need to eliminate it from their game.
The Warriors showed what they can do when they unshackle their talented players, so they just need to come out of the gates with that mentality.

The Warriors discipline and error rate continues to hurt them, with the Warriors guilty of back to back penalties several times throughout the game.
With an increase in offloads, you can expect an increase in errors, but the Warriors just need to show the ball more respect and reduce the low percent passes and hold onto the ball better when going into contact.
Against a stronger side, these penalties and errors may have sealed the Warriors fate as early as halftime, so they just need to reign them back.

My last negative has nothing to do with either side, it is with the officials.
The referees have been poor more often than not in 2019, but this match was genuinely baffling.
It wasn't just against the Warriors either as the Knights were hard done by with some incorrect calls (One of Maumalo's tries appeared to have a forward pass involved), but the Bunker denied a certain try for Ken, gave the Knights six more tackles after it looked like Mason Lino knocked the ball.

My biggest issue during the match was when the Peta Hiku was knocked into next week, and the game was not stopped.
The Ref said that a trainer needed to advise him of the situation despite Gavin Badger being right next to Hiku staring directly at him, the Knights did score right after this, but when player safety is one of the big talking points this year it was inexcusable to see the play continue.
Im not sure what the NRL can do to fix the issues but coming out during the week and saying sorry does not cut it, the refs are basically infallible with the players and coaches not allowed to say much about their performance so what can be done.
I think the officials need to be treated like the players, you have a shocker you get dropped, if there are consequences to poor performance, then the chances of a better performance should improve.

My Warrior of the match goes once again to Ken Maumalo.
240 metres, 2 (should have been 3) tries and now sitting tied at the top of the NRL tryscoring leaderboard with 12.
He is head and shoulders above the rest of his team-mates this year almost down to his consistency alone, even if he doesn't cross the chalk to score he is always crucial in getting the Warriors into scoring positions with his devasting runs.
There is a chance that the Warriors could have their wingers go back to back as the NRL's top try scorer, I've had a look and could not find any other teams able to claim that feat, so fingers crossed for big Ken's form to continue.

My Warrior to improve goes to Gerard Beale.
In his defence, he was a late call-up for Patrick Herbert, but he had me pulling my hair out in this match.
On several occasions, he had the chance to put David Fusitu'a into space but chose to go alone in Kata like fashion.
People criticise Hiku a lot, but he knows how to get his winger over the line, and that is what the Warriors need to do with a strike weapon like Fusitu'a.
If Herbert is out again this week, Beale will have a chance at redemption, and I hope he takes it.

Round 17 has the Warriors once again in Australia, this time facing the Brisbane Broncos.
The Warriors need to string wins together, and the Broncos are in a crisis of confidence right now sitting 14th on the ladder.
This gives the Warriors a good chance of getting a win here, but the Broncos showed how dangerous they can be with their win over the Sharks.
If the Warriors forwards perform like they did in the second half against the Knights and the Warriors halves put pressure on Darius Boyd, then they should be able to walk away with the win.
The Warriors have already tasted victory at Suncorp in 2019 and im backing them to win again this time by 8.

So that was my take on an improved round 16, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What would you do to improve the refereeing in the NRL?
Who was your player of the match and player to improve?
Do you think the Warriors have a shot at top eight still?
What is your score prediction for Round 17?

Monday, July 1, 2019

NZ Warriors 2019 Round 15 Review: Warriors woes continue in Golden Point heartbreak

After last week's break for the international matches and State of Origin, the Warriors were home hosting a confident Penrith Panthers side looking for their fifth victory in a row while the Warriors were looking for their first home win since round 4.
The home crowd were left disappointed as despite losing two men to the sin-bin, the Panthers were too good for the Warriors claiming a 19-18 victory in Golden Point.

Well, what can you say about that performance?
The Warriors appeared to have the win in the bag when they were leading 16-12 with only three minutes remaining but sitting in the stands I had a bad feeling that the Panthers were going to get out of jail and unfortunately my feeling was correct.
I'm unsure as to what happened, maybe the Warriors thought the game was over and took their foot off the gas, or perhaps they were just lucky to be ahead and were always staring down the barrel of defeat.

The absence of Tohu Harris had a visible effect, with the Warriors defensive line missing his large frame and I think they missed Lachlan Burr also, the Panthers have a large pack and missing two of the larger bodies in the squad took its toll.
Jazz Tevaga got his chance to start at lock and in my opinion, I don't think it worked, Jazz always plays his best football in limited minutes for my mind as when he is out there for an extended period his error rate climbs tenfold.
Hopefully, Burr returns next week taking that lock spot back and improving the Warriors defence in the middle.

There wasn't a lot to praise in this performance, but it wasn't all doom and gloom, which leads me to my positives.

David Fusitu'a was more active in this match, he is always up for taking hit ups, but he appeared to be running with intent and searching for opportunities. He finally returned to the scoreboard (although the try should not have been awarded as he was out, unfortunately) and if he can get himself into the match more in the future, we could see more tries in his future.

On the other edge, Ken was strong once again, he got the Warriors out of trouble with several of his trademark barnstorming runs.
Ken continues to go from strength to strength and has definitely put his hand up as one of the Warriors best performers in 2019.

Lastly, I think the front row had a good night more specifically Bunty Afoa and Karl Lawton. Afoa ran for well over 150metres and offered as much impact on his last hit up as he did on his first. The Warriors could do with at least one more player in Bunty's mould to try and get an advantage up front.
Karl Lawton had a strong game but for some reason was not used for an extended period, if Roache had not got injured Lawton probably would not have got back on the park which would have been a mistake.
Lawton is lethal sniping out of dummy half and is always ready to capitalise on slow markers and im glad that he has been re-signed as he has potential in spades.

Unfortunately, there were quite a few negatives to go over so I will just get into it.

Although the Warriors finally got away from the one out running that has plagued them this season, but unfortunately, the Warriors still lacked good 5th tackle options.
Blake Greens kicking game is not going to make the Warriors a force and Kodi Nikorima barely has a kicking game at all.
If the Warriors want to crawl out of the hole they have got themselves in they need to sort out their last tackle options, even if they just started kicking towards Fusitu'a in the corner, just try something as running on the last almost every time isn't working.

The Warriors defence was dreadful, the missed tackle that lead to Brent Naden's 85metre try was a coach killer, but the Warriors were constantly guilty of not wrapping the Panthers up and were punished with plenty of offloads.
Improve that defensive effort and victories become that much easier to obtain.

The lack of a killer instinct was disheartening, playing 20 minutes of the match with more players on the park should have guaranteed victory for the Warriors, but they only score two tries on that time.
They were well ahead on the penalty count too and should have taken advantage and piled on all the points they could.

My last negative is Nathaniel Roache's injury, as of writing the results of his scan haven't been announced but it looks like an ACL injury.
I feel for Roache as he is a hell of a talent, but his body continues to let him down, as hard as it may be for him he may need to look at new career options as his body just does not appear to want to let him play first grade.
I mean no disrespect to Roache, and I hope this injury isn't significant and he can get himself healthy and playing first grade consistently.

My Warriors of the match goes to Bunty Afoa.
Bunty was a standout in the pack in this match, running with purpose and was head and shoulders above his fellow front rowers.
Being a front rower is often a thankless job, and you take a beating and Bunty can undoubtedly take a licking and continued charging forward and was rewarded with a try.
I fully expect him to continue his rampaging ways as the 2019 season continues.

My Warrior that needs to improve goes to Patrick Herbert.
Herbert has had an excellent start to his Warriors career, but this was undoubtedly a low-point for the young centre.
His defence was left wanting, and that missed tackle on Naden will define his performance in this match.
His goal kicking was also uncharacteristically poor missing two of his three attempts.
Herbert is a great talent, and he will bounce back from this performance and be all the better for it.

Round 16 sees the Warriors head across the ditch to face the Newcastle Knights.
The Knights were strong in their match against the Broncos and are going to be tough.
Issac Luke and Lachlan Burr should return to the side for this match, and the Warriors will need to be at their best if they want to walk away with the much needed two points.

Unfortunately, I don't see it happening, I think the Knights are going to be too good here and will defeat the Warriors by 12.

So that was a disappointing round 15, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

Who was your player of the day?
How would you improve the game day 17?
Who would be your starting lock, Jazz or Lachlan?
What is your score prediction for Round 16?

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