NZ Warriors 2021 Round 24 Review: Warriors slim playoff hopes sink in second half collapse

After round 23's defeat to the Broncos, the Warriors made their way to BB Print Stadium in Mackay to face the Canberra Raiders. Both sides needed the victory here if they wanted to keep their playoff aspirations alive, and I was confident that the Warriors could get the job done here, and it certainly looked that way when they shot out to a 16-0 lead; however, it wasnt to be as the Warriors didn't return from the sheds at halftime, allowing the Raiders to come from behind with a 28-16 victory putting playoffs officially out of reach for the Warriors.

The Warriors busted out of the gates scoring in the first minute when Wayde Egan darted out of the ruck before putting Sean O'Sullivan away. After a brief battle in the middle with neither side getting the upper hand until the Warriors scored back to back tries when they kicked towards Bailey Simonsson, who had a shocker and failed to defuse either kick, allowing Rocco Berry and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to score. The Warriors had a few more chances but failed to capitalise; just before halftime, the Raiders got on the board when Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad barged his way over to see the Warriors enter the sheds with a 16-6 lead.

The Raiders were over again in the first two minutes of the second half when Sebastian Kris barged over on the right edge before the game once again settled into a battle. No points were scored until Kris finished off a nice 50-metre play, which after Jordan Rapana's conversion, saw the match level with 15 minutes to go. The Warriors had a few attempts of regaining the lead but made some poor choices with the ball in hand, which was a constant theme of the second half with Chad Townsend off the pitch after reinjuring his shoulder. Reece Walsh attempted a field goal which sailed to the left. This seemed to be the last swing the Warriors could muster as the Raiders scored down the left edge, with Rapana scoring the match-winning, in almost an identical manner to his try from round 3 that was stopped by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. The Warriors attempted a short kickoff and came within a fingers grasp of grabbing before the Raiders struck again as the final siren blared when Hudson Young scooped up the loose ball after Walsh dropped a bomb to score the Raiders fifth and final try of the night.

It was a frustrating watch, the Warriors had the game in control, but as soon as Chad Townsend was injured, they lost their direction and with Matt Lodge and Addin Fonua-Blake both off the field, the Warriors lost their backbone in the middle. It just opened the doors for the Raiders to walk straight back in. I don't really know what else to say here that I won't cover in my positives and negatives, so I may as well just get into it.

Despite the result, there were a handful of things in the match that made me smile, which brings me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

Chad Townsend was strong while he was on the pitch, he directed the side round the park well, and his kicking was on point. I think it was his best performance since rejoining the club; it was also his last game for the Warriors, as the injury he suffered will see him miss the final game of the year against the Titans. I hope that Sean O'Sullivan and Chanel Harris-Tavita have learned from the veteran half during his stay and can step up and similarly direct the team in the final match of the season before Shaun Johnson returns next season.

As expected, Matt Lodge and Addin Fonua-Blake were strong up the middle, with both running over 100m (AFB with 179m and Lodge with 171m). They look so much better when they are playing; the issue though is that when they both come off the field, the Warriors performance falls off a cliff. Both players can play large minutes, but the coaching staff need to figure out how to make sure they have at least one of these guys on the field all the time if they stagger them coming off in a way where one comes off early and plays a longer second stint and the other plays longer at the start and shorter in the second. I'm not a coach, so I could be way off the mark, but I feel the Warriors are better when these guys are out there, so make they both don't sit on the pine at the same time.

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

Match Negatives

That second half was shocking; I already mentioned that when Townsend went off, the Warriors went off the rails, but I feel that they may have come out for the second half thinking they had done enough to keep the lead. Complete speculation on my part, but in the NRL, a 10 point lead is never safe; you need to keep the pressure on. To see the Warriors let the Raiders off the hook when their season was on the line just hurt as a fan and makes me concerned with how they will go this week with nothing but pride to play for against a team still desperate to squeak into the playoffs.

Errors again hurt the Warriors; they ended the match with 10, and just like last week, many of them came from poor carries. They just need to show the ball more respect and keep that ball locked in when making contact. It can be easier said than done, but the Warriors have shown throughout the season that they can play error-free football, so with one game left, I want to see the errors move into single digits. 

Ah, missed tackles, my old friend; it's back once again with the Warriors missing 44 in this match. The first half was a reasonably good defensive display, but the defensive line went to tatters when Lodge and AFB went off. Once that middle started to soften, the edge defence started slipping, and the Raiders just started breaking the line at will. Defence has been a massive concern for me all year and needs to be one of the main things addresses in the offseason.

Nathan Brown's team selection needs plenty of work. Seeing him drop Jazz Tevaga to 18th man and bring in Kane Evans had me scratching my head. Evans has done nothing to deserve a spot in the 17, and this game was more of the same. He offers very little on attack running only 3 times in the 29 minutes he played. A positive was that he made no errors this time; he is a monster of a man; he just doesn't play like one. Tevaga offers so much more and should have at least been on the bench, if not starting at lock instead of Bayley Sironen, who still isn't offering enough. Brown needs to pick his best side. This year I don't believe he has done that, and if he continues this trend next season, we may have to be prepared for more disappointment.

Lastly, I want to touch on milking, the Raiders players appeared to be staying down after tackles in a bid to earn some soft penalties, and it worked for them, with the Warriors being penalised 7 times. It just irked me to see the Warriors getting punished for legitimate tackles when the Raiders got away with some high contact shots throughout the match, especially with the game being so close. I don't want to see the Warriors resort to milking themselves, but the Refs need to stop being baited.

Warrior of the Match

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My Warrior of the match goes to Wayde Egan. I have been critical of the hooker this season, but this was Egans best game to date in a Warriors jersey. With Lodge and AFB rolling forward, Egan could use the running game I praised back when his signing was announced. He ran for 117m, set up that nice try for O'Sullivan and was involved heavily in defence. He took a knock and didn't get to finish the game, but if he can perform to this level consistently, then the Warriors spine might be quite dangerous in 2022.

Warrior to Improve

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My Warriors to improve goes to Kodi Nikorima. Having to come on to replace Townsend in the halves was not was planned for Nikorima, and he had a start to forget, dropping the ball with his first touch. This saw him go into his shell as he offered very little after that, running the ball twice and not contributing to the kicking game. It's just not good enough for a player with his level of experience, and as harsh as it may be, I think his time with the Warriors is up; however, I don't see any club picking him up, so he will most likely be with the club next season. I think he could add something as the teams No.14, but if he needs to be relied on to replace a half, then the Warriors will be in trouble.

Next rounds thoughts and prediction

The final game of the Warriors season sees them return to Sunday afternoon football when they travel to Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast to face the Titans. The Warriors got the win in round 1, but I think the Titans will be harder this week. They still have a slim chance of making the eight, so you can expect a big performance out of them. With Townsend out, we should see Harris-Tavita and O'Sullivan combine in the halves. Hopefully, Egan is fit to start at hooker and in regards to the rest of the pack, I would move Tevaga into lock, drop Evans from the bench and put Sironen there or bring Jamayne Taunoa-Brown back. I hope the Warriors give us a great final performance here, but I think the Titans will be too strong at home, so I am picking the Titans to get the win by 10. 

Before I go, I just want to touch on the news that the Warriors may be spending the 2022 season in Australia. This would be devastating for the club and the fans here in New Zealand who have been starved of live football since August of 2019. I have my fingers crossed that this won't be the case, but it does not surprise me with everything happening on both sides of the Tasman with COVID.

There has been nothing official on this yet, so I will give more of my thoughts in a separate article once we have more information since I want to keep writing in the offseason.

So that's was an embarrassing Round 24, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your thoughts about Browns team selections?
Who was your player to improve?
Do you think another year stuck in Oz will improve the Warriors?
What is your score prediction against the Titans?

NZ Warriors 2021 Round 23 Review: Winning streak over as Broncos hold on for narrow victory

After round 22's victory over the Bulldogs, the Warriors made their way to Suncorp Stadium to face the Broncos. After Brisbane's narrow defeat to the Roosters in round 22, I came into the match nervous. Unfortunately, that feeling was on the money as the Broncos walked away with a 24-22 victory, essentially ending the Warriors slim playoff aspirations.

The Broncos started the match looking more dangerous, but the Warriors were able to scramble and keep from scoring. Both sides traded sets for the first 20 minutes, with each having a try denied by the bunker. Brisbane kept plugging away and soon scored two tries via Xavier Coates in quick succession. A 60-metre sniping run out of dummy-half from Reece Walsh saw the Warriors deep in Brisbane territory. A few tackles later, they were on the scoreboard when Marcelo Montoya finished off a simple backline passing play. The Broncos surged back, and Anthony Milford looked to have scored, but Peta Hiku managed to wrap him up. A few tackles later, Hiku was in the mix again when the Warriors put up a bomb which he kicked on, and after Chad Townsend pushed it into the in-goal, Hiku pounced on the loose ball. The bunker was called on again and denied the Warriors, advising that Hiku had knocked the ball on. This saw the sides go into the sheds, with Brisbane holding a 12-4 lead. 

The Warriors started the second half strong, almost nailing a 40/20 on their first set before scoring on their second set when Dallin Watene-Zelezniak put a grubber through which Hiku kick forward before diving on it over the line. The comeback was on as Bunty Afoa almost barged his way across the line, but Josh Curran finished the set off with a nice hit and spin, handing the Warriors the lead. The Broncos took the lead back when Albert Kelly latched onto a fortuitous bouncing ball to score; however, the Warriors responded when Hiku drew in defenders before throwing his trademark flick pass out to DWZ; Walsh missed the conversion, which meant the game was levelled 18 all at the 60-minute mark. The scores stayed locked until Milford crossed the line after his own kick was tapped back to him, handing Brisbane back the lead. Time was running out for the Warriors, but they managed another try after Euan Aitken was ruled by the bunker to have grounded the ball before Coates; Walsh had the chance to level the scores with his conversion from the sideline but shanked it. With time running out, Walsh attempted a two-point field goal, but it swayed to the left, and the Broncos held onto the ball, waiting for the final whistle. The match ended with a bit of frustration on display, with both sides having a pull-apart as the final siren played.

I know I have been saying that I didn't see the Warriors making the top eight; however, this defeat all but seals their fate. They still have a chance at making it if all their stars align, but I just don't see it happening. The Broncos played well here, this isn't the same team that has been poor for the majority of the season, and it just wasn't the Warriors night. I thought the referee and bunker had a shocking night, and while I thought the Warriors were hard-done-by, the Broncos had calls go against them too. 

It's frustrating and disappointing, but I hope the team and coaching staff take a massive lesson from this defeat and end the season with two strong performances against the Raiders and Titans.

However, it wasn't all doom and gloom, leading me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

I thought the majority of the forward pack did well in this match. Lead as always by Addin Fonua-Blake, who ran for 207 metres and lead the Warriors defensively with 38 tackles. He was assisted by some strong efforts from Eliesa Katoa (100m), Afoa (98m) and Aitken (88m). A few more of the pack still need to step up, but the return this week of Matt Lodge should help in that department.

Behind the forwards, the backline looked threatening at times. Montoya, DWZ and Hiku all caused headaches for the Broncos. Walsh had plenty of shining moments, too, especially being lethal when deciding to run from dummy-half. If they all get on the same page, they can create plenty of scoring opportunities. I still have concerns with Adam Pompey, I think he is a good ball runner, but he needs to work on his distribution skills a bit more as he showed in this match that when he decides to set up his winger, the Warriors can score down his edge.  

 defence

I thought the defense looked better, they did miss 35 tackles, but the team were sliding to plug up holes in the line and looked more in control. They appeared to be communicated better and is hopefully a sign that with the team not having wholesale changes, they are started to gel and build combinations. It may be too little too late for 2020, but it could be the start of a fruitful 2021.

I had concerns, which brings me to my negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

The Warriors were hurt by a slow start once again. Too often this season, the Warriors have allowed their opposition to score the first two or three tries. This just makes things harder for them, as any team on their day can give you trouble. The Warriors cannot continue to allow teams to run up an early lead as it will only lead to misery as they cannot rely on massive comeback attempts to get them out of jail every time.

Errors continue to be an issue for the Warriors; they made 11 in this match. Many of them came from poor carries. Ball security is a must; with a comeback needed, the Warriors tried pushing things a bit too much, and it backfired. Fixing those slow starts will help in this department, too, as it will stop them from needing to chance thier arm as much. When they played simple football, they managed to score with relative ease. More of that this week and the points will come.

Goalkicking was an issue in this match, with Walsh only kicking one from five. Plenty of critics have pulled the youngster apart for his poor showing, but he made up for it in other ways. I guess the question is when it looked like he was having an off night, why didn't Nathan Brown switch to Chad Townsend or Chanel Harris-Tavita? 

Speaking of Brown, my last negative is his use of the interchange. I have criticized his use of the bench many times this season, and he still has me scratching my head. He didn't use all of his interchanges and only brought Jack Murchie on for just over 10 minutes, which makes me question why he had him there in the first place? He needs to make smarter decisions on how to use his bench, when to inject forwards into the match and when to get players off before they start to make errors due to fatigue.

Warrior of the Match

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My Warrior of the match goes to Peta Hiku. He was a constant threat on attack, scoring a try, being denied another, and setting up one for DWZ. Not to forget his defensive efforts with his try-saving tackle on Milford. He has been strong since his return from injury, and I think it was a huge mistake allowing him to walk away at the end of the year; I'm sure they could have convinced him to stay with the offer of a longer deal, but it is too late now. I hope we see more of his awesome try assists in his final two matches for the club. The Cowboys have got a talented player with gas still in the tank.

Warrior to Improve

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My Warrior to improve goes to Bayley Sironen. I couldn't find any images of him from this match because he was that invisible. He only played 48 minutes and ran for 48m; he did make 35 tackles, but the Warriors need a bigger effort out of their lock; if that was me, it would be the last game for the season for Sironen with either Jazz Tevaga or Josh Curran taking the No.13 for the last two matches. Sironen is a talent, but he needs to start offering more with the ball in hand if he wants to keep his spot. Especially with the performances, the Warriors have been getting out of Curran and Aitken.

Next rounds thoughts and prediction

Round 24 sees the Warriors return to Friday night football, travelling to BB Print Stadium in Mackay to face the Canberra Raiders. The Raiders are hard to gauge; they have been awful for long stretches of the season and are currently sitting on a two-game losing streak. I come into this match worried as I don't know if the Raiders are bad enough to lose three in a row. The Warriors will welcome back Matt Lodge, and apart from that, I don't know what other changes will happen. Wayde Egan should go back to starting hooker with Tevaga moving to lock. Since Brown opted to bring Townsend back, I say stick with him instead of changing the halves once again. It will be another tough encounter, but I think the return of Lodge should give the Warriors the edge, so I am optimistically picking the Warriors to get the win by 8.

So that was a disappointing Round 23, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What are your thoughts on Nathan Browns interchange use
Who was your player of the day?
Who was your player to improve?
What is your score prediction against the Raiders?

NZ Warriors 2021 Round 22 Review: Warriors playoff dream continues after third win in a row

After round 21's victory over the Sharks, the Warriors made their way to Moreton Daily Stadium in Redcliffe to face the Bulldogs. I went into the match confident, but there was a slight unease that the Wooden Spooners could get an upset win here. However, that unease was unfounded as the Warriors walked away with a relatively comfortable 24-10 victory.

Three wins in a row and a match where the Warriors led from start to finish for the first time in quite a while. They scored from their first set with Josh Curran started the real with a long run down the sideline before finishing the drive after a nice short ball from Sean O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan went from hero to villain on the next set, throwing an intercept that was snatched up by Aaron Schoupp, who ran away untouched for the Bulldogs first try. After that, the Warriors always appeared in control, looking more threatening with the ball in hand, scoring two more tries through Jazz Tevaga and Edward Kosi. The Bulldogs had the last laugh of the first-half, scoring in the 39th minute via Jayden Okunbor to see the Warriors go into the sheds leading 16-10. 

The second half was more of the same, with the Warriors playing the more positive football but only managing one try when Chanel Harris-Tavita chipped the ball early in the tackle count for Reece Walsh to outrun the defenders to score just before the ball went over the dead-ball line. The Bulldogs looked to have scored after Kosi dropped the ball coming off the Warriors line, but the bunker took it away from them due to Sione Katoa making contact with Kosi's head. After that, the Warriors could not cross the line anymore, but they did slot a penalty goal to push out their lead and nail the win.

Now while I would have liked to see the Warriors blow the Bulldogs away, I was happy with the 14 point win; I had predicted a 12 point win, so I guess you could say they exceeded my expectation. Not only was it the Warriors third win in a row, but it was also the third match in a row where they kept their opponents scoreless in the second half. They have kept their slim playoff hopes alive, and while I still think they will just miss out, I am happy that they are making the end of a season more exciting to watch and write about, especially after having to write reviews through that losing streak.

It wasn't perfect, but this game had things that left a smile on my face, which leads to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

I thought the Warriors forwards dominated the middle; I was concerned that the Warriors may have struggled without Matt Lodge against a Bulldogs pack with loan player Ryan James in the mix, but I was wrong with four Warriors running for over 100 metres with Addin Fonua-Blake the best, chalking up 212 metres (the rest were Josh Curran with 175, Euan Aitken with 158 and Jazz Tevaga with 126). They threw offloads and created second-phase football, but they displayed more control than normal and didn't overplay their hand. Several of the pack put their hands up to run the ball more than once in a set, and they looked hungry. If this pack can keep this level up, they will be hard to combat, especially when you add Lodge back into the mix.

I liked what I saw out of the spine (for the most part), I think O'Sullivan is still playing better than I expected, and yes, he did have some poor plays included that intercept, but he kept plugging away. The highlight for me, however, was the budding combination between Harris-Tavita and Walsh. They are working well as a tandem, and I'm excited to see them build their partnership; add Shaun Johnson to that mix next season, and it could lead to some highlight-reel football.

Missed tackles are my last positive; normally, this is a constant in my negatives section, but last week I asked the Warriors to get their missed tackles to the low 20's, and they ended this match with 18. That is a great improvement, and while this was a match against a Bulldogs side that didn't threaten them too much, they managed to scramble whenever the Bulldogs looked to be gaining momentum. The Warriors stayed on their man better this week, and I'm hoping it is a sign of things to come.

They still have a long way to go defence wise, but this was a welcome step in the right direction. 

I still had concerns, which brings me to my negatives from the match.

Match Negatives

The Warriors made too many errors for my liking again, making 12 in this match. Some of them came from pushing passes that shouldn't have been passed. It may have been because the Warriors were trying things while they had a lead. Just like I said last week, they just need to take a breath and settle things.

I wasn't happy with the number of ruck infringements they conceded, they had five against them, and the disappointing part of it was that the majority of them were on the last tackle. The Bulldogs could not take advantage of these, but if the Warriors do the same thing against the Broncos, Raiders and Titans in the final three rounds, they may be in trouble.

Lastly, I was unhappy with some of the Warriors last tackle options. I praised the Warriors spine earlier, but they had a few sets that ended clunky with some poor kicks or wayward passes. Again I think in those moments, it was a case of the Warriors trying to rush to get things to happen. If they slow it down and utilise their strengths, then the points will come. They don't need to try and score every set.

Warrior of the Match

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My Warrior of the match once again goes to Josh Curran. The young second-rower has just gone from strength to strength in the past month. He was heavily involved in the Warriors attack, scoring a try, setting up another, running for 175 metres and led the side with 3 linebreaks. He also was sitting atop the tackle count ending the day with 42 for the second week straight. He is starting to find his feet, and I love it. One of the first names I would pencil into the Warriors starting lineup from now on. 

Warrior to Improve

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I struggled to select a player to improve this week as I was overly happy with everyone, but I have selected Kodi Nikorima. I've liked Nikorima's move to the No.14 as he has been adding some much-needed spark from the bench, but he didn't deliver too much for the Warriors in this match. He only made two runs from dummy-half and didn't really take hold of the match like I expected him to. He made 13 tackles with no misses, which was good to see; however, I want to see a bit more out of him this week attack-wise. 

Next rounds thoughts and prediction

Round 23 sees the Warriors head to Suncorp Stadium to face the Broncos. The Broncos have been poor this season but have started to show some fight in the past few rounds, including taking the Roosters to the limit in a 21-20 loss in Round 22, so I come into this match a lot more nervous than I would like. The Warriors will welcome back Dallin Watene-Zelezniak but will still be without Matt Lodge. Apart from bringing DWZ in for Ed Kosi, I would be happy to keep the rest of the 17 the same; however, Nathan Brown may bring Chad Townsend in. The Broncos have been tough, but I feel that the Warriors have built enough confidence and cohesion over the past three weeks and will move to four wins in a row, so I am picking the Warriors to get the win by 10.

Before I go, I just want to talk about my show, The Stand Off on New Zealand Sport Radio. We are celebrating our 50th episode tonight (16/08/2021) at 8pm NZ Time. We will be hosting a Q&A, sharing funny memories from the past episodes and discussing the Warriors and all things NRL with special guests Roo & Hammer. So if you are interested in checking it out, I will link it below. 

New Zealand Sport Radio

So that was a satisfying Round 22, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What changes would you make to the 17?
Do you think the Warriors will make the eight?
Who was your player of the day?
What is your score prediction against the Broncos?