Ingers League Wrap-Up 2022 Round 8 Match Report: Warriors 21 Raiders 20

Scoreboard

New Zealand Warriors

Tries: Adam Pompey 24, Viliami Vailea 31, Euan Aitken 63

Goals: Reece Walsh 25, 31, 65, 79

Field Goals: Shaun Johnson 82

Canberra Raiders

Tries: Matthew Timoko 6, Hudson Young 27, Jack Wighton 34,

Goals: Brad Schneider 7, 15, 34

MATCH REPORT 

First Half

A new look Warriors outfit got the match underway but loss the ball on their first set when new recruit Daejarn Asi knocked the ball on; the call was initially called a Raider's knock-on, but they successfully challenged the call. Canberra followed that trend a few plays later when they also lost possession. Both sides traded sets back and forth before the Raiders, on the back of a penalty, surged up the field with ease before sending Matthew Timoko across for the first try of the afternoon with some excellent ball play, shifting quickly to the left edge. Jesse Arthars sparked the Warriors back into action with a strong kick return minutes later and earnt the home side a penalty, but they let the opportunity go begging when Addin Fonua-Blake lost control of the play the ball; the visitors were handed back-to-back penalties after this error but could not turn them into points after Jordan Rapana was tackled with the ball on the last tackle. Shaun Johnson tried a 40/20 but could not get the angle right, and Canberra surged up the field after Matt Lodge was penalised for a high shot, Adam Elliott found open space and was close to scoring, but the Raiders were given another penalty after Lodge tackled a player without the ball, Brad Schneider pushed the visitors lead out with a penalty goal. The Warriors were given a penalty after Jack Wighton was put on report for a dangerous tackle on Reece Walsh, but they made another error when Johnson threw a wayward pass that sailed over the sideline. Canberra looked close to scoring minutes later when Elliott fumbled a loose ball near the try line, letting the Warriors off the hook. The home side had an improved set and got to their kick which was caught by Jordan Rapana, who quickly passed to Nick Cotric, who dropped it; the Warriors promptly took advantage, shifting the ball out to Adam Pompey, who dotted down for the Warrior's first try. After getting themselves back into the contest, the New Zealand side let themselves down when Fonua-Blake dropped the ball on the first run after the try. The Raiders wasted little time taking advantage of this mistake, sending Hudson Young across for Canberra's second try. The Warriors responded quickly when Asi chipped a kick through, which was sure to be collected by Rapana, but the fullback slipped, which saw Viliami Vailea scoop it up to score the first try in his NRL career. It was groundhog day for the home side as they lost possession via Eliesa Katoa on the return set and could not contain the Raiders, who shifted to the left again, sending Wighton across to score. With the first-half winding to a close, the Warriors kicked early to try and catch the Raiders off-guard, but Rapana latched onto it; Canberra had a few half-chances with some nice offloads but could not turn them into points as the siren sounded, seeing the sides go into the sheds with the Raiders holding onto a decent lead.

HALF-TIME: Canberra Raiders 20 New Zealand Warriors 12

Second Half

The Raiders started the second half in the manner they ended the first, running at will and almost getting into a scoring situation again when Young pushed a grubber through for Xavier Savage but Walsh was able to latch onto it and keep the Warriors out of trouble. The sides started trading errors for the following few sets. The only notable aspect of play was Lodge was penalised and placed on report for raising his elbow when running into Corey Harawira-Naera. Canberra tried another grubber which Walsh once again defused. The run of errors continued for both sides, Walsh attempted to insert himself into the Warrior's attack and looked threatening, but a forward pass stopped any chance of adding to the score tally. Tempers started to flare when Ben Murdoch-Masila entered the match and had a push fight with Joseph Tapine, which saw the Warriors earn a penalty; Tapine would have the last laugh, though, when he forced an error when tackling Murdoch-Masila on the next set. Despite the mistakes, the home side was building momentum, keeping the action in the Raider's half and eventually scoring the first points of the half when Asi put Euan Aitken into a hole to cross the line untouched reducing the deficit to two. The New Zealand side kept the pressure on and moments later looked to have taken the lead for the first time in the match when Johnson hopped and skipped his way across the line; however, the bunker deemed that Tom Starling was impeded from being able to tackle the halfback. This kicked the Raiders into action, and they barged up the field and piled the pressure on the Warriors, forcing the New Zealand side to try and run the length of the field for the victory. Asi attempted a 40/20 to get the Warriors into great field position, but it sailed out on the full. Time was running out, and the Warriors got the ball to Johnson, who put up a bomb which Schneider dropped before being knocked on by Walsh. The home side had a few attempts to break the Raider's defensive line from the scrum but had no luck until they were given a penalty for an apparent high shot on Lodge, which saw Walsh level the scores to send the match into Golden Point.

Golden Point

The Raiders received the ball first, but the Warrior's defensive effort was up to the task, and they forced an error when Starling threw a forward pass from the ruck. The home side played it safe with some one-out running to set up Johnson for the field goal, which he nailed, handing the Warriors a much-needed come from behind victory.

FULL-TIME: New Zealand Warriors 21 Canberra Raiders 20

Warrior of the match Points

3 pts - Euan Aitken, 2 pts - Daejarn Asi , 1 pt - Wayde Egan

My official review will be out on Monday, so keep an eye out for when that drops to get my opinion on the match.

NZ Warriors 2022 Round 7 Review: A night to forget as Storm blow Warriors off park dominant second-half display

 

After the Round six loss to the Roosters, the Warriors made the trip to AAMI Park to face the Storm in their annual ANZAC clash. Warriors fans know that this match every year has been disappointing for some time. Unfortunately, we witnessed another horrible outing with the Storm dominating the Warriors, scoring ten tries in a second-half onslaught, seeing the Warriors go down 70-10.

For a breakdown of how the match went, check out my match report at the link below.

Ingers League Wrap-Up Round 7 Match Report

Last week, I said that the Storm love to put a cricket score on the Warriors in this ANZAC clash, but I did not see a 60 point loss coming. I predicted an 18 point loss but expected that it could push out to a 30 point win, but at least it goes with my trend of getting the margins wrong this season.

Seeing the side get flogged like this hurts me to my core, but I think the fact that they were in the contest for the first half made it hurt even more. Call me stupidly optimistic, but after last week's match against the Roosters, I thought the Warriors would show more fight against a top tier side, but I was wrong. The Storm are one of the best sides in the competition, and if you give them an inch, they will take a mile which is what we saw here, and once they got on a roll, they starved the Warriors of possession and turned the match into a training session.

The Warriors only had six sets in the second half, which shows how dominant the Storm was but the fact that the Warriors only managed to complete two of those six sets shows how poor they were.

It's a reality check for the Warriors, and they need to learn as much as they can from this embarrassment and use it as fuel to bounce back; otherwise, we are in for a tough season.

Injuries to Josh Curran and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak do not help matters, Curran has been one of the Warrior's best players, and he is now set to spend some time on the sidelines, and that is a massive concern for me. DWZ getting knocked out was horrible to see; it was a freak accident, and I hope he is ok and back soon as the Warriors have thin stocks in the outside backs as it is.

There wasnt much to smile about this week, but I managed to find some glimmers of hope, which leads me to my positives from the match.

Match Positives

The match is over; take the lessons on board and move on.

We are another week closer to getting Tohu Harris back, I'm not saying he would have changed the outcome of this match by any means, but his experience and leadership are needed now more than ever.

This was the worst performance (at least the second half), but this may be just the result needed to either wake the players up or open the door to bring in other players to give them a shot. They have some inexperienced players like Junior Ratuva and Pride Petterson-Robati that could be given a chance to stake their claim at starting spots, and now that the Warriors are at an all-time low, it could be the time to blood some new talent.

However, I had plenty of concerns, which brings me to my negatives from the game.

Match Negatives

As mentioned above injuries to Curran and DWZ are massive concerns depending on how long they will be out for but I believe Shaun Johnson was playing injured too, judging by how little kicking he was doing during the match, Chanel Harris-Tavita went down in the first half also and looked to not be 100%. No word yet on how serious any injuries with the halves are yet, but my confidence will be at an all-time low if they are set to spend time off the park.

The Warriors only made 9 errors in this match, but when almost every error led to a Storm try, it must be mentioned as a negative. The Storms three tries in the first half all came from Warrior's mistakes, and they need to just show respect for the ball, especially in a game like this where they didn't get a lot of time with the ball.

The defence or lack thereof was a concern; the Warriors ended the match with 41 missed tackles. Most of these came in the second half when the side was just playing human turnstiles for a Storm side playing the game on easy mode. I have constantly criticised defensive coach Justin Morgan, and I will continue to do so until I see this side improve their defence structures; they often find themselves out of position defensively and are made to pay. This needs to be fixed immediately.

The Warrior's struggle with the ball in hand continued here; it's hard to judge the second half attack as they had limited sets to work with. Still, in the first half, we saw the Warriors struggle to pile pressure and too often made poor choices; kicking early in the tackle count continually broke me, and while they did manage to score a try of one of these early kicks, most of the time it just resulted in gifting the Storm more possession. It may be down to Johnson not being fully fit, but the Warrior's attack needs plenty of work if they are to dig themselves out of the hole they find themselves in.

Lastly is Heart, Nathan Brown mentioned in the post-match conference that he felt that several players gave up in this match and I have to agree, after the Warriors lost DWZ it felt like all the air was sucked out of the stadium and the Warriors were just waiting for the match to be over. I have been involved in matches where my team has put up a cricket score on the opposition but I have never been on the losing side in that situation so I cannot comment on the mental impact it has on you and your performance, I am certain that it is hard to continue to give it your all when the floodgates have opened but the fans of this club just want to see the Warriors fight, they stick with the side through thick and thin and if they see the team giving up, why should they continue to tune in. Win or lose just show that you are in the fight and good things will come, look at the Tigers right now.

Warrior of the Match

I have no Warrior of the match this week; the players that did not let themselves down were still not good enough to praise. I hope this is the only time I can't pick a player to highlight.

Warrior to Improve

My Warrior to improve goes to Ed Kosi.

I feel for Kosi, I really do, but once he dropped his first ball in this match, nothing went right for the winger. The Storm targeted him, and he folded; too many errors and either a lack of pace or lack of effort defensively highlighted that first grade may not be the place for him. I want to see him succeed, and I hope he takes this performance to heart and grows from it.

Next round thoughts and prediction

Round 8 sees the Warriors return to their makeshift home at Moreton Daily Stadium in Redcliffe to face the Raiders, who went down 36-6 to the Panthers. It's rock bottom for both sides, and I think this should lead to an interesting matchup as both clubs will want to make up for their round 7 efforts.

Regarding the team I would pick, I think DWZ will be out, and Kosi should be sent to reserve grade, so I would bring Rocco Berry back to the centres and move Adam Pompey to one wing and either give Junior Ratuva a chance on the other win or bring Viliami Vailea back and move Jesse Arthars to the wing. Curran will be out in the forwards, so Jazz Tevaga stays at lock with Eliesa Katoa returning to the second row. I would drop Bayley Sironen and give Petterson-Robati a bench spot.

This is a challenging game to pick, and my thoughts may change when we see the announced team, but right now, I am going with home-field advantage, so I am picking the Warriors to win by 8.

So that was an embarrassing Round 7, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What changes would you make to the game day 17?
Did you have a Warrior of the match?
Are you concerned that some players appeared to give up?
What is your score prediction against the Raiders?

Ingers League Wrap-Up 2022 Round 7 Match Report: Storm 70 Warriors 10

 

Scoreboard

Melbourne Storm 70

Tries: Jahrome Hughes 8, 72, Xavier Coates 22, 60, 66, 68, Nick Meaney 26, 50,  Ryan Papenhuyzen 47, 52, Harry Grant 58, Jesse Bromwich 77, Justin Olam 78

Goals: Ryan Papenhuyzen 27, 40, 41, 48, 51, 59, 67, Nick Meaney 74, 78

New Zealand Warriors 10

Tries: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 12, Wayde Egan 29

Goals: Reece Walsh 30

MATCH REPORT 

First Half

After a fantastic prematch ceremony, both sides showed they were here to perform. The Warriors showed some spark with an early run from Wayde Egan but could not convert it into points. Melbourne returned the favour with a strong set of their own before the clubs started to trade sets, with neither gaining an advantage. The New Zealand side surged up the field after earning a penalty and looked sure to score when Reece Walsh fired a cutout pass to Ed Kosi, but the young winger dropped the pass, and Ryan Papenhuyzen scooped it up before getting it away to Jahrome Hughes who ran 60 metres to score the first try of the night. The Homeside looked ready to pounce again on the next set, breaking the visitor's defensive line apart before being dragged down by the scrambling defenders. After surviving that scare, the Warriors found themselves back in the Storm half and then over the try-line when Chanel Harris-Tavita threw a skip pass out to Dallin Watene-Zeleaniak to see the scores levelled. The match settled back into an even contest with both sides trading errors for several sets before a Hughes grubber was not cleaned up by Kosi and then dived on by Xavier Coates for the Storms second try of the evening. Melbourne added to their lead a few minutes later when Nick Meaney latched onto a Shaun Johnson pass to run 70 metres to score. Everything appeared to be going the Storms way, and the Warriors needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat if they wanted to get themselves back into the contest, and that came from a Johnson kick on the second tackle that had a fortunate bounce that found its way to Egan for a much-needed try for the visitors. With halftime edging closer, we did see too much more happen in the first half; the Warriors gave away a few silly penalties, which gave the Storm a chance to end the half with a penalty goal pushing their lead out to six as both sides entered the sheds.

HALF-TIME: Melbourne Storm 16 New Zealand Warriors 10

Second Half

Melbourne started the second half strong, surging up the field before the Warriors forced an error on the last tackle. The Storm challenged the call, and the bunker ruled in their favour, giving them a penalty for a Warriors player tackling Harry Grant before he grabbed the ball. Papenhuyzen pushed the lead out to eight. After a few errors riddled sets, the Storm were deep in the visitor's half on the fifth tackle when the ball ended up in the unlikely hands of Nelson Asofa-Solomona. He put up a kick that found its way into the hands of Papenhuyzen for another try. The play was stopped for a brief spell after a scary incident where Watene-Zeleaniak was knocked unconscious when his head collided with Asofa-Solomona's knee, which saw the veteran winger stretchered off the field. The New Zealand side did themselves no favours when the game restarted when Walsh's kickoff sailed over the dead-ball line, gifting the Storm a penalty at halfway. Moments later, the Storm were across the line again when Melbourne targeted the Warrior's reshuffled left edge, and Meaney crossed for his second try of the night.  This saw the floodgates open up as the Storm continued to punish the New Zealand side, scoring back-to-back tries via Papenhuyzen and Grant before twisting the knife further with three more tries to Coates in quick succession, who would make the most out of Kosi having a bad night. The visitors were getting frustrated and started getting a bit niggly, with Matt Lodge getting penalised and put on report before the home side added more points to their tally and set a new record for most points scored by Melbourne at AAMI Park when Hughes, Jesse Bromwich and Justin Olam and scored in the final ten minutes to end the match with a massive sixty-point win, handing the Warriors the biggest defeat in their history.

FULL-TIME: Melbourne Storm 70 New Zealand Warriors 10

Warrior of the match Points

To be determined, right now, I could not pick anyone.

My official review will be out on Tuesday, so keep an eye out for when that drops to get my opinion on the match.