NZ Warriors 2021 Round 4 Review: Old habits come home to Roost as Warriors put away in second-half blowout

After Round three's exciting come from behind victory over the Raiders, the Warriors made their way to the SCG to face a Roosters side eager to make amends after suffering their first defeat of the year. The day started well with the Warriors looking competitive in the early stages, but the Roosters came home strong on the back of some poor Warriors errors and defensive reads to hand the Warriors their second loss of the year, 32-12.

Ah, the joys of writing about the Warriors, last week was a joy to review, and then I come crashing down this week after such a frustrating game. The Warriors started the match up-tempo, asking the Roosters defence plenty of questions and scored via Adam Pompey in the sixth minute. An injury to Addin Fonua-Blake in the 14th minute saw the Warriors lose some punch upfront. A few errors allowed the Roosters back into the contest when James Tedesco scored a nice solo try, but the Warriors responded with Tohu Harris diving on a Roger Tuivasa-Sheck grubber; the Roosters finished the first half with back to back tries by Nat Butcher and Brett Morris to take a narrow 16-12 lead into the break. The Roosters dominated the second half, scoring three tries, another one for Brett Morris, an intercept try to Drew Hutchison before ending the night with Josh Morris crashing over in the corner. The Warriors looked to have put Ken Maumalo away in the corner, but unfortunately, his hand touched the line before he grounded the ball.

So yeah, not a great night out for the Warriors. There was plenty of talk about the Roosters rookie halves pairing, but the Warriors just didn't pressure them enough to rattle them. It was a concerning match for me in the Warriors first test against genuine top 4 contenders as they did not front up and showed that they are not at the same level. However, they did show me enough that if they had Euan Aitken, Peta Hiku and Fonua-Blake there and worked on a few issues that I will discuss in my negatives section, they could be competitive. Call me an optimist, but I want to believe that the Warriors will learn from this loss and become a better team because of it.

There wasn't much I liked about this match, but there were a couple which leads me to my positives from the game.

Match Positives

After my issues with the Warriors starting matches too slow, the Warriors were in this match for the first 40. Some better defence, and they could have even been leading at the break. So they have shown that they can end games well and can now start well, so the next trick is to combine the two and give an 80-minute performance. 

Fonua-Blake's early exit hurt the Warriors, but I thought Bunty Afoa and Leeson Ah Mau stood up in his absence and were two of the very few forwards that threatened to bed the line. With both running for over 100 metres. With AFB most likely set to miss the round 5 clash against his former club this Friday, Afoa and Ah Mau will need to deliver again, this time with the rest of the pack chipping in.

I did have plenty of concerns, however, which brings me to some to my negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

The Warriors made 13 errors in this match, and it was a huge momentum killer; they just seemed to not be clicking. They were dropping easy offloads, making errors in the play the ball area and just gifting the Rooster's too much ball inside their own half. You just cannot afford to play with such a lack of respect for the ball against any team in the NRL because they will make you pay, as we saw here.

The Warriors turned back the clock to 2019 with the return of their one-dimensional attack; they started the match threatening the Roosters line but reverted into the one out running that plagued the Warriors campaigns for the past few seasons. Wayde Egan was slow getting the ball out of the ruck. Kodi Nikorima and Sean O'Sullivan failed to insert themselves or the backline into scoring opportunities; the wingers are not being used right now, other than battering rams within their own 20 metres. The Warriors need something different in their backline as I feel like they are all just built out of the same mould, so they need a point of difference in the form of a quicker mobile player; I think Marcelo Montoya is a good start. It was frustrating watching the Warriors spend repeat sets on the Roosters goal line and just handing the ball out to a forward in the hope that they would crash over for a try, it was predictable, and the Roosters barely looked threatened. This week's matchup gives them the perfect opportunity to play some expansive football against a struggling side, so I want to see the Warriors give their backline some scoring chances this week.

Their defence was a massive concern; the Warriors ended the match with 33 missed tackles, their worst effort this season. The defensive line looked slow, and the normally decent goal-line defence was disorganised and left plenty of holes for the Roosters to target. Defence is all about attitude and having trust in your teammates, so hopefully, on a positive note, this side with the recent changes can work on the defensive structure during the week and show improvement this week.

Lastly, the Warriors handed the Roosters too many repeat sets on the back of 5 penalties and 5 ruck infringements. Just like the errors, you cannot afford to give your opposition a leg up. With the new six again rule, if you are not up to scratch with your discipline, you are looking at energy-sapping defence, which leaves you with not much left in the tank when you finally get your hands on the ball. The new rules are still something all sides are getting used to, but the Warriors just need to ensure that they keep themselves extra squeaky clean. 

Warrior of the Game

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My Warrior of the game goes to Bunty Afoa.

Bunty showed plenty of energy in this match, running 13 times for 132 metres, 1 tackle break and 41 tackles with no misses. I love his running style and have been impressed at his return from injury so far. After being told he was free to look elsewhere at the end of last year, Afoa has stepped up and shows every week why he deserves to be re-signed. He works hard on attack and defence and always appears to be giving his all; if his drive can rub off on the rest of the squad, then the Warriors will be a tough team to beat. He brings much-needed intensity to the Warriors, but he also balances it with good discipline;. However, he has been charged with a grade shoulder tackle this week (his first offence in over two years) and could miss two weeks if he fights it; he will only miss one week if he pleads guilty. 

Warrior to Improve

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My Warrior to improve goes to Wayde Egan.

Egan offered so little in this match that he may as well have not been on the field. He made one run for 2 metres, and his passes were so slow out of dummy-half that the Roosters defence was already in the face of the Warriors when they got the ball. His failed to offer any spark on attack, and his one-off passing at the Roosters try line was head-scratching at best. Nathan Brown has faith in Egan being the hooker to lead the Warriors, and with few options to replace him currently, he appears to not be at risk of losing his spot, but patience is thinning, and he needs to show the fans a sliver of what Brown sees in him. The Warriors have a pack that can charge up the field now, so Egan needs to be taking advantage of that with snipes out of dummy-half or, at the very least, quicker delivery to his halves.

Round 5 thoughts and prediction

Round 5 sees the Warriors return to the Central Coast Stadium to face the bottom of the ladder Manly Sea Eagles. Manly have been woefully poor this season and show no signs of improvement anytime soon. All signs lead to a comprehensive win here for the Warriors, but I would not take the Sea Eagles lightly, especially since Tommy Turbo should make his return this Friday. Despite his probable inclusion, I am picking the Warriors to walk away with a victory, so I'm picking the Warriors to win by 22.

With AFB potentially out injured and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown still suspended, another prop will need to be brought in, and I think it's time to give Kane Evans a shot from the bench with Ah Mau moving into the starting line-up. I also would potentially look at making changes to the backline; it is not working right now, so some changes could be welcome, maybe giving Paul Turner, Hayze Perham or Rocco Bery a chance to add some spark in a backline sorely needing it.

So that was a disappointing Round 4, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What changes would you make to improve the side's attack?

Who was your player of the day?

Who was your player to improve?

What is your score prediction for the Sea Eagles clash?

NZ Warriors 2021 Round 3 Review: Warriors surge past wounded Raiders in record-breaking comeback

After Round Two's heartbreaking last-minute defeat to the Knights, The Warriors had their first trip away from the Central Coast when they travelled to the Australia Capital to face the Canberra Raiders.

The day didn't start well, but the Warriors mounted a second-half comeback to overcome a fatigue Raiders side 34-31 in one of the most entertaining games this season.

What a game to watch; it was a true nailbiting, edge of your seat encounter that reminds me why I love the NRL. I picked the Raiders to get the victory here, and it certainly looked like a Raiders win was on the cards when they scored 4 tries in the first half to go into the break leading 25-6. Canberras did suffer game-ending injuries to Ryan James, Sebastian Kris and Joseph Tapine, which meant they would have to play the second half with a one-man bench. This was the deciding factor for me, as the Raiders could not keep up with the pace of the match and were in trouble for the final 30 minutes of the game as the Warriors continued to pile on the pressure at a pace that the Raiders couldn't handle, scoring 5 tries to score the upset victory as well as breaking the Warriors biggest comeback record.

If the Raiders had a full bench, they would most likely have won the game by a large margin but full credit to the Warriors for taking advantage of an unfortunate situation. Credit needs to go to the Raiders to put up such a valiant effort against the odds and almost getting the win in the dying seconds when Jordan Rapana went over in the corner, only to be stopped in an amazing effort by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

It was a great game to watch; however, the Warriors still had plenty of issues that I will cover in my negatives from the match. Unfortunately for Warriors fans, all the talk after the match will be about Henry Perenara. There were some calls that he missed, like the forward pass, but I thought the Warriors had some tough calls in the match too, like Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad putting his foot out of touch and the Bunker ruling the Bailey Simonsson was taken out in the air, so for me, it evened out. 

So it was an entertaining match, and while it was great to see the Warriors win here, I'm sure they would have learnt plenty of lessons throughout the match which may be more valuable as the season progresses.

There was plenty to like about this match, which leads me to my positives from the game.

I like the way the Warriors changed their attack plan to target the fatigue Raiders. They also started to target Curtis Scott in the defensive line as he was hampered by a rib injury but couldn't leave the field. It's great to see the Warriors being able to change how they approach a game, and it gives me some confidence in their playoff potential. If something isn't working, NRL teams need to have the ability to switch gameplans on the fly, and the Warriors showed here that they can do it.

After another poor first half, the Warriors once again showed improvement with a strong second-half showing. Admittingly it was only against 14 men, but the Warriors showed an increase in energy and started to run with intent, constantly testing the Raiders defence. The Warriors just need to start games with that same effort, so they are not always chasing in matches.

The offloads returned in style, with the Warriors throwing 20 in total. Tuivasa-Sheck lead the side with 6. I have always said that the Warriors are at their most dangerous when playing an off the cuff style, and it showed in this match. They now have the forward pack that can push through the defensive line and pop the ball out to faster back running in the channel. Bring that into the gameplan more and watch the tries start to flow.

On the same note, Kodi Nikorima started to run again, ended the match with 124 metres off 10 runs; this may have been due to his partner in the halves contributing more to the kicking game and a tired defence. Still, Nikorima is at his best when he is on the move. When he probes the line, he causes plenty of headaches for the opposition, and if he doesn't create a scoring opportunity for himself, he at least sets up another Warrior to score. I have my fingers crossed this running display from Nikorima continues for the rest of the season as the Warriors can't afford him to only bring his running shoes to games sporadically. 

My last positive was Sean O'Sullivan; I was worried when it was announced that Chanel Harris-Tavita would be out for 12 weeks, and I wasn't sure if O'Sullivan would be able to step up. Still, I wasn't going to write him off before he had a chance to show what he could bring to the table. I thought he had a pretty good debut; he also brought his running shoes as he ran 14 times for 111 metres, had 4 tackle breaks, made 8 kicks for 211 metres and only missed 1 tackle. Not a bad start to his Warriors career as he helped direct the Warriors attack, and they looked better with the ball in hand this week. It's a good starting point for O'Sullivan, and I'm confident that he will build on this performance as his partnership with Nikorima continues to develop.

I did have concerns, however, which bring some to my negatives from the match.

I think it's time to stop Adam Pompey kicking off; kicking the ball out on the full is a bonafide coach killer, and it's something the Warriors cannot continue doing. Gifting the opposition a penalty at halfway is just too dangerous in the NRL. So many sides in this competition can turn that chance into points. So please, no more Pompey kickoffs.

It was another poor first half from the Warriors. To concede 4 tries in the opening 40 minutes is normally more than enough to dampen your chances of a comeback, and while the Warriors managed to get it done this week, they will not be able to do that every week. Coming out of the gates hard and fast will make winning the match that much easier.

The Warriors defence took a massive step backwards this week; in the first half, the Warriors were falling off tackles, leaving huge holes for the Raiders to target. The goal-line defence, usually the Warriors saving grace, looked disorganised, and the Warriors let in some pretty soft tries. With some tough clashes on the horizon, they will need to get back into the defensive form I praised in round 1.

  

The Warriors also didn't help themselves with errors, ending the match with 10. With the game's pace now, you need to keep momentum on your side and showing a lack of respect for the ball is a surefire way to derail any game. At times it looked like the Warriors were starting to panic, trying to force passes that weren't on. That was understandable due to being so far behind on the scoreboard, but hopefully, a stronger start would alleviate this from happening again. 

Lastly, that pass. I thought it was forward from what I could see, and I thought Perenara was in the prime position to call it. As a Warriors fan, I have seen many forward passes cost the Warriors a game before, so I'm happy to see the Warriors get the rub of the green this time around. I feel for Raiders fans, but again I have seen it happen to Warriors so often, and I still believe that if that try hadn't been scored, the Warriors would have still done enough to get the win; the Raiders were gassed by that point and were leaving massive holes open for the Warriors to attack. It just is unfortunate that Perenara will be the talking point from his match.

Copyright Photo: Stuff.co.NZ

My Warrior of the game goes to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

RTS was on fire in this match, running for 253 metres, 2 line breaks, 10 tackle breaks, 6 offloads and that try-saving effort in the final minutes. It was just another masterclass from the Skipper; he got himself involved in the attack and just continues to give his all for the Warriors. It may be his final year, but he is determined to make his last season with the club a good one. Hopefully, the rest of the squad bring the same level of effort for the rest of the campaign.

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My Warrior to improve goes to Ken Maumalo.

It was hard to pick a player this week after riding the high of a Warriors win, but I ended up selecting Big Ken. While he ran for 167 metres, I feel like he was a bit one-note in this match. He lacked the normal impact we expect from him. I want to see him get himself involved a bit more on attack when in the opposition half instead of just being a truck barging out of the Warriors own 20. I'm a fan of his; I just want to see the Warriors start to use him as an attacking weapon again.

Round 4 sees the Warriors head to the Sydney Cricket ground to face the Roosters on Easter Sunday.

This is the Warriors biggest test to date after the Roosters won convincingly in Rounds 1 and 2. Still, a tough round loss to the Rabbitohs saw the Roosters suffer some big injuries with Luke Keary gone for the season. Youngster Lachlan Lam may also be missing the game, not to mention they will also be without Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend, and Lindsay Collins. 

This gives the Warriors a fantastic opportunity to get the win here, and I'm picking them to get the job done, so I'm going with the Warriors by 8. The Warriors will be missing Peta Hiku, who injured his MCL this week, so that opens up a spot in the centres. The Warriors have Hayze Perham and Rocco Berry ready to go. Still, I feel that Bayley Sironen (who has some limited centre experience) may get the nod for the centre spot to help strengthen the edge defence. If that happens, I would have Murdoch-Masila moving into the starting second row after his best performance in a Warriors jersey.

So that was an exciting Round 3, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

With Hiku's injury, who would you bring in as cover?

Did you think the pass was forward?

Who was your player of the day?

What is your score prediction for the Roosters clash?

NZ Warriors 2021 Round 2 Review: Knights break Hearts with last-gasp Victory over Warriors

After a successful Round 1, The Warriors remained on the Central Coast to play host to the Newcastle Knights.

Throughout the week, everyone was talking about the battle between these sides forward packs. While it did not disappoint, it was Newcastle's 19-year-old centre Bradman Best that stole the show as he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat as the Knights came from behind to beat the Warriors 20-16.

Well, close but no cigar for the Warriors, this was the second game in a row that could have been picked by a coin toss, and it truly went down to the wire. My heart sank when the Warriors started the match with their kick-off sailing over the sidelines on the full, but they were able to withstand the Knights attack. Then once they got the hold of the ball, the Warriors were able to surge up the field and had repeated sets in the Knights red zone but just couldn't turn any chances into points.

Despite that, Newcastle drew first blood when Jayden Brailey spotted some slow markers and scooted out of dummy half. The Warriors appeared to have responded when Wayde Egan barged over similarly to Brailey; however, the try was denied when the bunker checked it as Kodi Nikorima was setting up for the conversion. A bit of a controversial call, in my opinion, as it looked like Egan still had control of the ball; thankfully, the Warriors were given a penalty due to the markers not being straight, and it didn't take them long to score when a quick play from Egan saw Tohu Harris send Ben Murdoch-Masila across the line with a nice short ball. The rest of the first half saw both sides trade sets with neither getting the upper hand until a penalty against Jazz Tevaga for the use of a knee in the tackle gave the Knights the chance to take an 8-6 lead into the break.

Bradman Best showed his skills to open the second half when he put Hymel Hunt away in the corner to push their lead out, and it looked like the Warriors could be in trouble. But the return of Addin Fonua-Blake, who left the field early in the first half with a calf strain, added some much-needed punch up the middle. The Warriors backline started to show glimpses of attacking threat and score back to back tries through Adam Pompey and Ken Maumalo, which saw the Warriors take the lead for the first time in the match with only 13 minutes remaining. It was edge of your seat stuff as the Knights kept testing the Warriors defensive line until it finally broke when a missed tackle saw Best break the line and then offload to Hunt for his second try of the night. The Warriors had one last attempt at winning the match in the dying staged when Bayley Sironen broke the line, but as his offload went to the ground, it was all she wrote for the Warriors.

It was a hard-fought match, and without Best's influence on attack, I think the Warriors may have got themselves home here; it will be a tough loss for the side to take. Still, I'm sure they will have taken some valuable lessons from this match as they set off for two very tough challenges back to back against the Raiders and Roosters. 

Despite the result, some things brought a smile to my face, which leads me to my positives from the game.

The weather wasn't the best, but the Warriors achieved a high completion rate of 87%, completing 41 out of 47 sets despite the conditions.  Just like I said last week, the Warriors need to keep the completion rate at this level but focus on turning these sets into scoring opportunities. 

The Warriors showed heart and kept themselves in the fight; being down 14-6 early on in the second half, they could have easily folded and suffered a heavy defeat like several other teams have already shown this season. But the Warriors kept their heads in the game and played a much improved second half to get themselves back into the contest; they just need to work on keeping a lead once they get it.

The Warriors forwards were not as dominant as they were in Round 1, with several of the pack not playing at the same level they did last week; it was a quiet night for Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Eliesa Katoam Bayley Sironen and Bunty Afoa. However, Tohu Harris, Jazz Tevaga, Leeson Ah Mau, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Addin Fonua-Blake all picked up the slack.

I want to highlight Fonua-Blake and Murdoch-Masila for praise; AFB only managed limited minutes due to his injury but still lead the pack with 144 metres from 13 runs. BMM also played well off the bench, running 71 metres of 9 hit-ups. His stats may not have been as good as AFB's, but he made a noticeable impact when he came on and could really become a great impact player for the side. The more he adjusts back to the NRL, the better he will be.

I thought Roger Tuivasa-Sheck had a much better game this week, inserting himself into the backline to set up two tries. He had an uncommon dropped kicked, but that was really the only blemish on his scorecard this week. I still want to see him running off the shoulder of his large forwards to be ready for an offload. He could bust opposition defensive lines wide open and score some scintillating tries if he runs that inside channel.

I did have some concerns, though, which brings me to my match negatives.

The side looked flat in the first half like they lacked energy. Now I can't explain why they were stuck in first gear, but if they want to compete against the top tier sides, they need to come out of the gate fast and keep the pressure on for 80 minutes. A positive aspect of this match was that the Warriors looked a lot better in the second half.

Much like last week, the team is still lacking cohesion, Kodi Nikorima and Chanel Harris-Tavita were struggling to lead the side, and the backline just wasn't clicking for large portions of the match. The Warriors have the pack to get them into the red zone; they just need their halves to create scoring chances for the side once they get there. They showed glimpses of their potential with the tries to Pompey and Maumalo and a few repeat sets due to some nicely weighted grubbers. It's just about increasing those glimpses into a consistent style of play. 

The Warriors discipline went backwards slightly this week, conceding 6 penalties and 2 players placed on report in Jazz Tevaga for his knee incident and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown for a crusher tackle. JTB looks certain to miss at minimum 4 weeks for his charge, but there is no word yet that Tevaga could miss any game time. To pull a positive out of this, the Warriors did not make any ruck infringements and were not caught inside the 10 metres (unlike the Knights, who were caught inside the 10 on five occasions and appeared guilty several more times).

My last negative is missed tackles, the Warriors missed 22 missed tackles, and more importantly, it was a missed tackle that lead to the Knights getting the match-winner. I was impressed with the Warriors defence last week, and I am hoping that this was just an off night and that the defence from Round 1 is what we should expect for the rest of the season. 

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My Warrior of the match was Tohu Harris.

Fresh off a new haircut and a new deal, Harris had yet another strong outing. 15 runs for 135 metres, 44 tackles with only 1 miss, 1 linebreak, and 1 try assist. When the going gets, tough Harris is always there putting his hand up to do work. With the backs continuing to struggle, I think he will need to step up and help them in the game's playmaking aspect until they start to gel.

He is the most likely candidate for taking over as skipper in 2022, and I could think of no better successor to RTS; and I hope he can inspire the players around him to deliver the consistency that he displays week in and week out.

Copyright Photo: Stuff.co.nz

My Warrior to improve goes to Kodi Nikorima.

It was a quiet night for Nikorima; he only made 19 running metres from 3 runs. Defensively he wasn't too bad, making 19 tackles with only 2 misses. He also had the majority of the kicking stats with 15 kicks for 460 metres.

Nikorima is the senior half in the Warriors squad, and he needs to step up and lead the side. If he can see that Harris-Tavita is struggling to lead the side, he has to take over. Now that may not be what he has been told to do by Nathan Brown, and if that is the case, he just needs to start running again; he is at his most dangerous when he spies holes in the defensive line. I think the combination of Nikorima and Harris-Tavita has potential, but if Nikorima doesn't come to the party, then the Warriors backline with continue to have issues.

Round 3 sees the Warriors travel for the first time this season, heading to the Australian Capital to face the Canberra Raiders. This is going to be a big challenge for the Warriors. The Raiders are a good team and hard to defeat when on home soil. The Warriors will need to bring their A-game if they want to walk away victors. I expect to see the Warriors bounce back from their round 2 performance, but I'm not sure it will be enough. They have the forwards to win the battle, but I am not confident that the backline will compete with the Raiders, especially with the news that Harris-Tavita will most likely miss the match with a foot injury, so I am going with a Raiders win by 12.

Before I go, I just want to touch on the news that the Warriors have signed Reece Walsh on a 3-year deal. I am sure that you have all seen the highlight reel from the young fullback, and I like what I see. He looks safe under the high ball, has plenty of pace and likes to get himself involved in the action. This weekend he scored a double and kicked 6 conversions for the North Devils, the Broncos will be kicking themselves for letting this talented youngster go, and the Warriors have a bonafide star on their hands. His signing also leaves plenty of salary-cap space for the Warriors to target other players. If it was up to me, I would be throwing an offer put to Adam Reynolds and advising Nikorima that if he wished to take up his player option, he would be moving into hooker. This would strengthen the Warriors halves as well as improving their dummy-half. Sounds like a winning combination to me; I know Nikorima wants to be a half, but I am unsure if any NRL clubs would offer him a deal to stay in the halves.

So that was an unfortunate Round 2, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your thoughts on the signing of Reece Walsh?

With JTB about to spend time on the sidelines, who would you bring into the 17?
Who was your player of the day?

What is your score prediction for the Raiders clash?