NZ Warriors 2021 Round 10 Review: Walsh Magic not enough as Warriors dig hole with slow start

 

After round nine's defeat to the Manly Sea Eagles, the Warriors made their way to Suncorp for Magic Round to face the Parramatta Eels. It was always going to be a tough ask against a top-four side, but with several key players out for Parramatta, I gave the Warriors a decent shot. However, I was off the mark with the Eels handing the Warriors their sixth loss of the year, with the Eels winning 34-18.

Another disappointing performance with the Warriors starting the game, making error after error. The Eels, in turn, dominated possession and territory and made easy work of the Warriors defence, scoring 4 tries in the first 20 minutes of the match through Nathan Brown, Maika Sivo and a double to Reagan Campbell-Gillard, who scored his tries back to back in the space of 3 minutes. The Warriors started to string some sets together and got themselves on the board after Josh Curran scored from a Chanel Harris-Tavita bomb to end the half trailing 24-6. The second half started with more of the same, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck dropping a bomb, the Eels looked to have scored straight after the error when Shaun Lane charged over, but the Warriors managed to hold him up. It was only a slight reprieve as the Warriors knocked on another kick which saw the ball end up with debutant Jakob Arthur who put Ryan Matterson over the try-line untouched. Parramatta stepped it up a gear, and Matterson was over again, but the Bunker denied him, letting the Warriors off the hook, who started to play more threatening football with the injection of Reece Walsh. This saw the Warriors scoring next, with Ben Murdoch-Masila rampaging his way over the try-line. The Eels responded quickly with Blake Ferguson scoring in the corner, but he lost possession while grounding, keeping the hopes of a Warriors fightback intact. The Warriors surge up the field, and after a penalty for a high shot on Tuivasa-Sheck, they were in prime position, and moments later, Walsh added to his highlight reel, hitting and spinning his way to the line. This brought the Warriors back into the contest, and while they had several chances to get into scoring positions, they lacked the polish to seal the deal. After weathering the storm, the Eels got themselves back on track and, after earning a repeat set, were over for the final; try of the match when Brown spied a hole and crossed for the first try of his career. The Warriors did make a last-minute attempt to add some points, including another fantastic run from Walsh, but it was too little too late.

As I said, this was always going to be a tough match; however, if the Warriors handling was better, I think they could have shot at getting the win here. It's another loss to learn from, but they can't afford too many more as the battle for a top-eight spot is getting fierce.

It wasn't a great performance, but a few things left a smile on my face, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

Despite being well behind on the scoreboard, it thought the Warriors showed heart in the second half and started to make a game of it. So far this season, the Warriors have consistently had a patch of 20 minutes where they have just allowed their opposition to either run up a lead or overtake them. I'm not sure what is behind this mental lapse, but the Warriors need to pinpoint it and get it out of their game.

A lot of the second-half fightback came from Walsh entering the game. This kid adds so much to the Warriors attack, and while his defence is suspect at times, I think he showed improvement this week. I also like that the Warriors actually tried to get him the ball this week after I complained last week that they didn't involve him enough, but more on him later.

I also thought Euan Aitken had a decent return, he added some starch to the Warriors edge, and I think he will back to his best in no time. He is a solid defender and a decent runner; his return has come at the right time for the Warriors to hopefully start to string some wins together, especially with two very winnable games in the next two rounds.

There were also things that troubled me, which leads to my negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

Obviously, my first negative is the Warriors errors; they made 15 errors and only completed 61% of their sets. This immediately put them on the backfoot, and against a quality side, you just can't give up sets so easily. How do you fix it? I'm not sure, but I guess they can work on their passing game for a start as so many passes were thrown haphazardly and ended up over the receiver's head.

My next negative is the poor first half; this links directly with the errors as the Warriors had very little possession and territory in that first half, and when they did finally start to hold onto the ball, they didn't do much with it. Harris-Tavita looked better than he did last week, but his kicking options weren't the best, and his halves partner didn't help. I want to see a better start this week, as slow starts just suck any momentum out of the match.

Lastly, the Warriors forwards did the halves no favours, with only Tohu Harris running for over 100 metres; BMM wasn't far behind with 92 and would have most likely click over 100 if he didn't have to go off to get stitches. If the Warriors had more ball in the first half, we might have seen higher numbers from the pack, but they need to do their part if they want to start winning games. The return of Addin Fonua-Blake could not come soon enough.

Warrior of the Match

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My Warrior of the match goes to Reece Walsh.

He only had 46 minutes in this match, but boy did he make them count; he ran for 159 metres, made 3 linebreaks, 1 linebreak assist, 7 tackle-breaks, and lead the Warriors with 99 kick metres from 7 kicks. The impact he has on games cannot be understated, and he continues to prove that he deserves a spot in the starting side. I still think he needs to be in the halves while RTS is in the side as I don't like seeing the captain sent to the wing. I feel like Nathan Brown will name him on the bench again, however, but I think the Warriors are a better side with him on the park, so having him on from the start seems like a no brainer.

Warrior to Improve

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My Warrior who needs to improve is Kodi Nikorima. He played a large part in many of the Warriors errors in the match’s early stages. He continually put players on his outside under pressure with wayward passes and generally lacked the polish needed to be a first grade half. The fact that an 18-year-old rookie has more impact on the Warriors attack in limited minutes shows how poor Nikorima is performing. If the Warriors are to stay a top-eight contender, they need Nikorima to either step up or move to Hooker or No. 14, where I think he plays his best football.

Next Rounds' thoughts and prediction

Round 11 sees the Warriors return to Central Coast Stadium to face the Wests Tigers. While the Tigers currently sit at 13th on the ladder, they are by no means easy beats as they have displayed some great heart, and Adam Doueihi and Moses Mbye played well at Suncorp and will be dangerous. If the Warriors can sort out their handling, then they should get the win here. So I am picking the Warriors to get the win by 14.

I think Brown needs to make changes to the squad, Walsh to start, and I would also swap Adam Pompey and Rocco Berry around as I think Pompey is a better winger than a centre. Josh Curran's injury could see him miss some game time, so I would be bringing Jack Murchie or Eliesa Katoa into the mix. Brown loves to keep us guessing with his selections, so the team announced tomorrow most likely won't be the one we see run out on Friday night, but fingers crossed it's an exciting game.

So that was a disappointing Round 10, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

How would you like to see the team line up this round?
Who was your player to improve?
Do you think the Warriors can play finals footy this year?
What is your score prediction for the Tigers clash?

NZ Warriors 2021 Round 9 Review: Errors haunt Warriors has Tommy Turbo sparks Manly into action

After Round eight's stressful victory against the Cowboys, the Warriors made the journey to Lottoland to face the Manly Sea Eagles. Both sides were missing key players in their forward pack and left their defence in the sheds with plenty of points being scored, the Warriors started well, but a poor second-half saw the Warriors handed their 5th defeat of the year with Manly winning 38-32.

Well, this was another frustrating watch, I predicted a Manly win by a large margin, but it was another close match between the sides, with the Warriors just lacking the polish to put Manly to the sword.
This was a try fest of a match with both sides leaving plenty to be desired when it came to defence but offering plenty of highlight-reel material on attack. The Warriors scored quickly, with Chanel Harris-Tavita scoring in the 2nd minute. However, Manly struck back with back to back tries through Tom Trbojevic, who was celebrating his 100th match. The Warriors responded quickly with Tohu Harris barging over after a nice shirt ball from Wayde Egan. Errors began to plague both sides, and the scoring slowed until a Kodi Nikorima penalty goal in the 34th pushed the Warriors ahead by two; the Warriors found their lead pushed out further when Josh Curran dived on a Jason Saab dropped ball to see the New Zealand side go into the break leading 20-12. Errors continued to haunt the Warriors in the second half, with Nikorima botching a guaranteed try with a poor pass which saw Manly unleash a try-scoring onslaught, scoring 5 tries in quick succession through Morgan Harper, Reuben Garrick and a hattrick for Saab to give Manly a large lead as the game entered the final 20 minutes. Another try to Harris-Tavita in the 67th minute saw the Warriors give themselves a slim chance of a comeback before a Harris offload saw youngster Reece Walsh sneak over for the first try of his NRL career in the 74th minute. The pressure was building, and the Warriors looked on the verge of forcing the game into golden-point when Walsh threw a cutout pass to Ken Maumalo, but Manly threw everything at the big winger and pushed him over the sideline to hold on for yet another win. 

This was a winnable match, and I think it made it worse to watch, feeling like the side had a win in their sights only to capitulate. To put a positive spin on it, I hope the Warriors can take lessons from this and deliver a better effort in Round 10.

It wasn't the best performance, but a few things left a smile on my face, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

I thought the Warriors started the match reasonably well; they lacked a lot of punch up the middle, and Harris-Tavita and Nikorima were rusty and struggled to combine at times but did enough to get some point on the board. However, as I have said quite a bit this season, the Warriors need to start playing for 80 minutes if they wish to remain in the top eight.

Walsh continues to shine; Nathan Brown decided to move him to the bench and threw him on with 26 minutes to go when the Warriors were in trouble, and to his credit, he asked Manly plenty of questions and added some much-needed spark and almost got the Warriors into a game-winning situation. His defence was still an issue, but he was targeted by Tommy Turbo, and he is no easy man to contain. The Warriors just need to give him the ball.

Lastly, the return of some key players with this week or next will help the Warriors out, Euan Aitken, Ben Murdoch-Masila should return this week, and Addin Fonua-Blake is back a few weeks after; this will see the Warriors return to almost full strength and I think they could string some wins together to cement a spot in the eight.

There was quite a bit that troubled me, which leads to my Negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

The Warriors lack of respect for the ball was a coach killer; they made 9 errors in this match and just constantly let Manly off the hook; they weren't even errors made when trying to force an offload. They were mainly soft carries. There are just too many quality sides in the NRL, and gifting them extra sets due to poor handling is a surefire way to walk away without the victory.

The Warriors forwards left plenty to be desired, with Kane Evans the only forward to run for over 100 metres. They missed BMM's impact, and the front-rowers appeared to be going through the motions without making any dents in the Sea Eagles line. Josh Curran was putting in plenty of effort but was making too many errors, and Bayley Sironen offered very little, to the point where you could be forgiven for forgetting that he ever played. I'm just counting the days until AFB returns, but in the meantime, I think some changes to the pack are required.

The Warriors lacked spark on attack. Making only 4 linebreaks and 5 offloads. Harris-Tavita was patchy in his first game back, and his kicking game was poor; there just wasn't enough questions asked until Walsh joined the match. Nikorima's failure to deliver a clean pass when the Warriors had a two-man overlap was throw something at the TV awful, and if I was in charge, I would have pulled him at that point. There is completion for the halves spots now, so hopefully, we see some improvement from Nikorima quickly; otherwise, his days in the halves may be numbered.

The Warriors missed tackles returned with a vengeance, missing 24 in total. Manly targeted the Warriors edges and found plenty of holes, and watching them score those five tries in quick succession was embarrassing. Aitken will add some starch to his edge, and hopefully, those young backs will learn to stop rushing in of their man as it just made things so easy for the Sea Eagles; simply trust the man on your inside and focus on your own target.

Lastly, the gameday 17. Brown admitted after the match that he may have got it wrong, and I agree, Walsh needs to start, Adam Pompey needs to go back to the wing as he is a ball hog that missed so many opportunities to put his winger into space. The starting props need to be changed with either Leeson Ah Mau or Bunty Afoa starting the match (if not both) as Jamayne Taunoa-Brown and Kane Evans just don't start matches with a bang. After Brown's admission, I am hopeful that we will see some changes, but he is quite secretive with his gameday side, with us not really having a clue on who will run out until an hour before kickoff.

Warrior of the Match

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My Warrior of the game goes to Tohu Harris.

It was hard this week as I don't feel like many players stood out, but Harris gave it a decent stab. He lead the side with 42 tackles, only ran for 90 metres but also had a line break, line break assist, a try assist and 3 tackle breaks. He only managed one offload but was one of the only Warriors players that was always threatening to get the ball away. While it wasn't his best performance, you could see that he was trying to lift his teammates and get the side back into the game. I hope the rest of his pack step up and help him out next week.

Warrior to Improve

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There were quite a few players that could have got my Warrior to improve this week, but I have gone with Wayde Egan. I know he ends matches right up there in the tackle count, but he lacks everywhere else. He just is so slow getting the ball out of the ruck; he did deliver a nice short ball to Harris for his try, but other than that, he just looked off the pace. When Nikorima moved into dummy-half, your saw the pace quicken, and the Warriors attack looked more dangerous. I have been hopeful that Egan would start to deliver for the Warriors, but I get let down every week. I'm sure he is a great guy to have around, but I honestly don't think he is at the level required for a dummy-half with the new rules. Nikorima needs to move into Hooker, I know people are concerned about his defence, but he would have the support of his props in that position which should protect him. If Egan sees that his position is under threat, maybe it will light a fire under him, and he can prove his doubters (myself included) wrong.

Next round's thoughts and prediction 

Round 10 is magic-round and see's the Warriors travelling to Suncorp Stadium to face the Parramatta Eels. It is an interesting contest as the Eels have been one of the form sides but after injuries, suspensions and leaving players out of their biosecurity bubble, they may struggle to name a 21-man squad. They have submitted an application to the NRL to allow those players outside of the bubble to return. This gives the Warriors a prime opportunity to get a much-needed victory over the 2nd place side. However, it won't be easy as the Eels still have King Gutho out there, and I'm certain that Isaiah Papali'i will be looking to put in a massive performance against his former club.

If the Warriors make some changes to their side, then they have a shot, so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt here and pick the Warriors to win by 8.

So that was a disappointing Round 9, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions

What changes would you make to the 17?
Who was your player of the Day?
Do you think Egan can improve and keep his starting spot?
What is your score prediction for the Eels clash?

NZ Warriors 2021 Round 8 Review: Warriors cling to victory after strong start almost undone

After Round seven's disappointing performance against the Storm, the Warriors returned to their adopted home on the Central Coast to face a Cowboys side on a three-match winning streak.

The Warriors were still missing several key players. Still, all eyes were on rookie Reece Walsh's first stint at five-eighth, and he delivered plenty of highlights as the Warriors held back a second-half comeback attempt from North Queensland to walk away with a 24-20 victory.

Man, what an exciting game; I predicted a win here, but it was a bit too close for my liking; the last 20 minutes of this match had me on the edge of my seat, just waiting for either side to make the match-winning play.
Reece Walsh shone once again in this match, playing a large part in the Warriors attack, with the home side scoring three tries in the first 18 minutes through Kodi Nikorima, Rocco Berry and Ben Murdoch-Masila. The Cowboys keep themselves in the match when in the 32nd minute when Reece Robson threw the mother of all dummies, fooling Jazz Tevaga as he crossed the try-line untouched. Walsh was at it again; minutes later, he put Josh Curran through a hole before the second-rower flicked the ball to Adam Pompey to score under the posts in the last scoring play of the first half, giving the Warriors a decent 24-4 lead. The Cowboys switched up their game plan and started to target the inexperienced edge of Berry and debutant Edward Kosi. It reaped rewards with Murray Taulagi and Scott Drinkwater scoring down that side in the 46th and 48th minute, making Warriors fans nervous as the Warriors looked to be letting this game slip. The Warriors appeared to have scored a fantastic try when Walsh ran on the last tackle, but the Bunker denied them, advising that the ball hit Curran’s shoulder and travelled forward. Both sides struggled to get the upper hand, with both sides letting themselves down with errors and poor discipline. A Tohu Harris offload to Walsh saw the exciting youngster burst into open space before he slipped over and then knocked the ball on after Valentine Holmes cleaned him up. North Queensland’s next set saw them surge up the field before the game was halted when Murdoch-Masila came off second best in a collision with Jason Taumalolo; once the match resumed, the Cowboys didn’t take long to score with Taulagi crossing over again in the corner to reduce the New Zealand sides lead to four. Momentum was heavily in the Cowboys favour as they made easy work of marching up the field and looked to be ready to score again before knocking the ball on but were given a penalty after Pompey was deemed offside. However, North Queensland failed to capitalise on the field position, throwing a forward pass that let the Warriors off the hook. The New Zealand side let themselves down again when Bayley Sironen lost control of the ball when attempting to play it, but the Cowboys also made the same error a few tackles later. The Warriors were given a penalty that gave them their first set inside North Queensland’s half for roughly 15 minutes, but Curran fumbled his attempt to pick up a Walsh grubber. Time was running out for the Cowboys, and they made a last-ditch attempt to score points, but their hopes were dashed when Maumalo scooped up the ball and ran for 30 metres to end the match with the Warriors grimly holding on for a much-needed victory. 

I thought it was a cliche game of two halves; the Warriors dominated the first half and then let the Cowboys back into the match in the second. The team has enough talent to succeed, and with several players set to return in the next few weeks and some winnable matchups, I think the Warriors can cement themselves in the top eight.

Despite the less than stellar second half, a few things left a smile on my face, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

That first half was fantastic, with the Warriors putting on a show taking full advantage of a slow Cowboys defensive line. The Warriors ended the match with 7 linebreaks, 30 tackle-breaks and 17 offloads. Every player in the backline managed to run for over 100 metres, and it was great to see the Warriors play a confident attacking style. They just need to stay in that mode for the entire match.

The rookies shone once again, Walsh was on fire (more on him below), and I like Rocco Berry and thought he had another good showing. The Warriors also handed young winger Edward Kosi a debut. I thought that he had a decent outing, the Cowboys started to target him and Berry in the second half, and their inexperience showed leaking some points, but these three are going to do great things for the Warriors once they get some more game-time under their belts.

The lineup was correct this week; in my review last week, I said I wanted Nathan Brown to move Walsh into the halves and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck back into Fullback, and he did it, and the Warriors attack was all the better for it. It added a new dimension to the Warriors attack, and RTS could inject himself into the attack at will. I love this new lineup and hope that Brown keeps it this week.

Lastly, the Warriors' defence only missed 13 tackles in this match, which is a great improvement; the stats can be a bit deceiving as the Warriors didn't have to defend too much in the first half. They will be disappointed in their defensive effort sliding a bit in the second half, but they still showed enough energy when having to scramble, and with a tough matchup this week, they will need another strong defensive outing.

Some things concerned me, however, which leads to my negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

The second-half collapse was a bit of a concern, I'm not sure if it was just down to the Warriors coming into the second-half overconfident, taking the Cowboys lightly or if North Queensland just switched their gameplan and the Warriors were caught off-guard. Thankfully the Warriors did enough in the first half to survive, but they will do my heart some much-needed rest if they don't let their opposition back into the match.

The backs may have had a field day, but the forwards didn't deliver the same level of impact, only Kane Evans, Ben Murdoch-Masila, and Tohu Harris ran for over 100 metres, with Josh Curran just slightly behind them. The Warriors need a few more forwards to pull their weight to lighten the load of the backline and make things easier for the halves. BMM was a monster, though, and I hope he can play this week after leaving the field early.

The Warriors let themselves down with a lack of respect for the ball, making 12 errors; I will put an asterisk next to this as some of the errors came from the Warriors chancing their arm when trying to score points in the second-half and I have been quoted as saying that I would rather see the players try and fail instead of not trying anything. Just a little more respect for the ball will help keep my stress levels manageable.

Lastly, I was confused with Wayde Egan's role in this match. It may have just been me, but there were several patches in the game where he was not going into dummy-half, leaving it to Walsh, RTS and Nikorima. I'm not sure if this is a game plan to allow those quicker players to strike while the Cowboys were struggling to defend or if he is playing through an injury, but he just looked to be off the pace. There was no mention of it in the press conference, but I will keep an eye on it this week to see if it happens again.

Warrior of the game

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

It was a great bounceback after last weeks outing; the skipper was back to his best, leading his side in run metres, making 225; he also made a linebreak, a try assist, 8 tackle-breaks and 3 offloads. He is an amazing talent, and although he is leaving at the end of the season and will be a massive loss but full credit to RTS for never giving anything less the 100%. He is getting heavily involved in the Warriors attack, and I think we will see the points start to flow when his combination with Walsh grows. I have all my fingers crossed that everything COVID related stays calm so the Warriors can bring some games back to Mount Smart so we can give him a proper sendoff.

Warrior to Improve

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While the second-half was dreadful, with many players having a shocking performance, I couldn't pick anyone to be my Warrior to improve; those who played badly in the last 40 did enough in the first 40 to get a pass mark.

So instead, I want to give a shout out to Reece Walsh, this kid just oozes talent, and in his first match at five-eighth, he was electric. It wasn't a perfect performance by any stretch, with the youngster making a few errors and made some poor decisions on the last tackle he was always trying, and he set up a nice try for BMM and had his hand in most of the Warriors big attacking plays. His kicking was great, and he has a hell of a bomb on him. I love him in the halves, and if he continues to play like this, I would be looking at keeping him there and moving someone else to fullback next season. I think Rocco Berry may be an option, but Scott Drinkwater may be on the outer with the Cowboys, and he could be a handy pickup. As long as Walsh is on the field, he will get himself involved, but it just my food for thought.

Next game's thoughts and predictions

Round 9 sees the Warriors travel to Lottoland to face the Sea Eagles. They played on a few weeks back when Manly got their first victory for the year, but since then, they have been putting together some great performances, including a decent showing against the Panthers in Round 8. This will be a tough game for the Warriors, and it will be no shock that the Warriors will need to keep Tommy Turbo quiet if they are to have a chance in this match.

I feel like the Warriors will use the same lineup, but we may see the return of Euan Aitken, which would help the Warriors defence on the edge. If the forwards can increase their impact and give Walsh and RTS some room to play football, they may get the job done; unfortunately, I think the Sea Eagles will be too strong, so I am picking Manly to win by 16.

So that was a stressful but exciting Round 8, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What would you do with Walsh next season, Fullback or Five-Eighth?

Who was your player of the day?

Did you have a player to Improve?

What is your score prediction for the Sea Eagles clash?