Post Match Raiders v Warriors - [Round 1, 2025]

[MrFrankWhite]

Watched replay. Up to first try.

First set. Both sides conservative.

Differences were. They tackled solidly. We tackled weaker or less than. Example 1. Marata got driven back like a lightweight.
2. We struggled to put down their winger (2) jersey
3. Every set leading up to the first try showed different defensive power between both sides towards Canberra.
4. When they scored the first try, they went left from the middle of the field.

They sent 5 blokes. One ball carrier plus Kris and winger. Two decoy runners behind ball carrier and Kris.

We had them covered for numbers as we also had five. Taine, Ali, Luke, Marata, Jackson. Charnze ran from the middle to cover as last man in.

Their runners hit holes and to my surprise, Marata covers his guy. Metcalf covers his and drifts to cover the extra.

Ball goes to Kris. (This is kudos to Kris and shame on us).

Kris skins Leiataua one on one. Metcalf and Tuaupiki cover and so does Charnze. So we weren't short of numbers. Kris beat all four of Ali, Taine, Luke and Charnze.

lol watch Marata again closely. then watch the line that Seb runs. Then answer who is meant to be the strong inside defender?

 

[run_it_str8_again]

lol watch Marata again closely. then watch the line that Seb runs. Then answer who is meant to be the strong inside defender?

Fordy was there as well. To me the breakdown happened as Ali got skinned. Up to then Marata had ball carrier who he covered as well as the runner. Ball carrier 1 passes to ball carrier 2 who running his good line has our defence compressing until Kris receives the short ball. At this point the numbers are equal still. But Metcalf has ball carrier 2 covered and Ali in a quick moment leans in before BC2 short passes to Kris who does the rest

 

[Ref]

CNK, Pompey, CHT, Ford, Niukore, Capewell and Egan..
They all started.
On 2024 form, broken bodies and what we saw yesterday.
Would any of them start or be in any other NRL clubs best 17.
You can carry one or two but not seven of them.
Our whole bench would make most other clubs 17s before these guys.
TMM would be a starter at most clubs.
Metcalf needs to be a six.
Give me Ale, Bunty, Eddie IT, Laban. Going, TSS before any of those starting forwards.
Taine to the back.
Kali to wing.
I might give Pompey another chance because he has his moments in the right surroundings.

This is just 2024 selection madness all over again.
Not to much different to referee appointments.
Some refs have to die, retire or be crippled for life before they are overtaken by the young guns who are much better.
Who hasn’t been to a local league game, or played in a game, when the referee turned up and the overwhelming consensus by players and supporters is Not this C*** again.

 

[kurgal]

Because I'm a masochist with too much time on my hands, I watched the full match replay on Youtube.

Thoughts:

- We started off defending and tackling really well (at least the first 5 minutes) - just no staying-power for the full 80

- We had the rub of the green with a number of the ref's calls going our way at first instance (just no luck with the bunker)

- There were some unlucky moments (such as RTS knocking on his first try attempt)

 

[run_it_str8_again]

lol watch Marata again closely. then watch the line that Seb runs. Then answer who is meant to be the strong inside defender?

Marata had ball carrier 1 and three others in his zone before bc1 passed at the line to bc2 who gets outside Metcalf and gives short ball to Kris who by now is one on one with Ali. Marata was ok still in my view (in context of this play). Ali came in to double Metcalfs guy when the short ball was made and Ali adjusted but slightly too slow and was beat. He was the weak link in my view

 

[Boats n Hoes]

WARRIORS FALL FOR SIN CITY

Teams can go looking for reasons why they lost a game, but the Warriors shouldn’t have to dig too deep.

The Tackle witnessed a couple of things during the week that had us concerned.

On Tuesday night (local time), a group of six Warriors players were gambling on the casino floor past 9pm.

We’re not suggesting they were breaking rules or doing anything illegal, but it was a strange look during a game prep.

On match eve, another group of players attended the Kevin Hart show at Resorts World, which didn’t finish until midnight.

The Warriors were the last team to arrive in the US, touching down last Saturday, and might not have got Vegas fever out of their system early enough.

Their performance was disappointing given the huge Wahs contingent in the crowd, which was probably the biggest supporter base.

Code Sports

Gotta say, unless they were hitting the grog im on the what a big pile of nothing bus for me.

Seen on Tuesday nite at 9pm? FFS really?...unless they we're getting pissed as chooks (which it doesnt sound like) big whoop.

Kevin Hart the night before? And what? Not all our body clocks are primed for 10 hours sleep?.......even athletes. I know the night before finals or big games i was always amped and couldnt sleep, was guilty of constantly playing the game in my head......before i knew it 2.00am and still couldnt shut off......for those types, going to the movies or a Kevin hart concert isnt a bad way to relax and shut the noise out.

Obviously the performance they put out is going to lend itself to this sort of stuff but ffs i dont think not seeing Kevin Hart or bed by 8.00pm is going to miraculously turn Kurt Capewell, Jackson Ford, Adam Pompey, CNK into x factor playmaking animals, make RTS 5 years younger, find Niukore a heart, improve Cappy's recruitment policy, or had anything to do with Webbys questionable bench use and positional philosiphies concerning our halves?

Got plenty of reasons to find why we were shit without having to invent any......(unless they were getting on Benders of course)

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Marata had ball carrier 1 and three others in his zone before bc1 passed at the line to bc2 who gets outside Metcalf and gives short ball to Kris who by now is one on one with Ali. Marata was ok still in my view (in context of this play). Ali came in to double Metcalfs guy when the short ball was made and Ali adjusted but slightly too slow and was beat. He was the weak link in my view

I see that Marata stays on his man until the play passes and then is watching the entire play unfold. He had time and space to react to Kris beating Ali, but doesnt do anything because he’s lazy.

Ali got beaten cos he’s a rookie, Marata did nothing cos he’s lazy.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Gotta say, unless they were hitting the grog im on the what a big pile of nothing bus for me.

Seen on Tuesday nite at 9pm? FFS really?...unless they we're getting pissed as chooks (which it doesnt sound like) big whoop.

Kevin Hart the night before? And what? Not all our body clocks are primed for 10 hours sleep?.......even athletes. I know the night before finals or big games i was always amped and couldnt sleep, was guilty of constantly running things through my head......before i knew it 2.00am and still couldnt shut my thoughts off......for those types, going to the movies or id imagine a Kevin hart concert is just a way to shut off.

Obviously the performance they put out is going to lend itself to this sort of stuff but ffs i dont think not seeing Kevin Hart or bed by 8.00pm is going to miraculously turn Kurt Capewell, Jackson Ford, Adam Pompey, CNK into x factor animals, make RTS 5 years younger, find Niukore a heart, improve Cappy's recruitment policy, or had anything to do with Webbys questionable bench use and positional philosiphies concerning our halves?

Got plenty of reasons to find why we were shit without having to invent any......(unless they were getting on Benders of course)

RTS strikes me as the yoga and in bed by 8pm type of athlete.

 

[Christchurch_Warrior]

This is just 2024 selection madness all over again.
Not to much different to referee appointments.
Some refs have to die, retire or be crippled for life before they are overtaken by the young guns who are much better.
Who hasn’t been to a local league game, or played in a game, when the referee turned up and the overwhelming consensus by players and supporters is Not this C*** again.

Did not expect this from you but unfortunately have thought the same way lol.

 

[run_it_str8_again]

I see that Marata stays on his man until the play passes and then is watching the entire play unfold. He had time and space to react to Kris beating Ali, but doesnt do anything because he’s lazy.

Ali got beaten cos he’s a rookie, Marata did nothing cos he’s lazy.

I'm not a Marata apologist by any means. He could have added his weight to the zone but Kris still got through Ali in recovery, Metcalf who came out to help, Taine who came in to help and Charnze who was a marker who sprinted across to fulfil his fullback duty. Marata may have stopped that try by giving more but four others failed as well. But as you say they at least tried

 

[Inruin]

I'm not a Marata apologist by any means. He could have added his weight to the zone but Kris still got through Ali in recovery, Metcalf who came out to help, Taine who came in to help and Charnze who was a marker who sprinted across to fulfil his fullback duty. Marata may have stopped that try by giving more but four others failed as well. But as you say they at least tried

All of them looked like they were individually trying but disconnected from each other

 

[1995 Sufra!]

Good thoughts
Dylan Walker knows how to take it to the line
Every single time
Unfortunately he ain’t got people that know how to back up or run off him
Said it before
No dummy half runners
No genuine threats in attack except RTS
All the good teams have attckers
No side to side rubbish the Wahs dished up
Look at the raiders attackers
That’s how you do it
Have a go Wahs
Otherwise Manly will put 30 on ya too

 

[run_it_str8_again]

All of them looked like they were individually trying but disconnected from each other

Charnze said otherwise yada yada yada. Sheesh what a post mortem this week is haha

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Just started watching the replay, saw Jackson Ford take his first hit up, turned the TV off

 

[Wrighty]

@Wrighty, I think this year is a defining one for Webster. It’s unfortunate because he’s clearly a long-term thinker,

I think long term we are switched on. Retaining and releasing the right players. I hope this year isn't defining for Webster as in his presser after the match you can see he hasn't learned anything from either last year or the year before that. I think we should keep going with him until he inevitably has an epiphany.

I actually wrote an email to Webby. I sent it to Warriors HQ and told them to forward it to him. I never got a reply from him and I can only assume the receptionist or email triage person deleted it as he and Cam George must be sick of random joe publics telling them how to run the team. I wish he had read what I wrote.
"Stop trying to place so much value of winning and just make the right calls and back yourself and if it goes wrong and we lose then we lose".

And that is his issue. He wants to win so badly he wouldn't trust Leka and Vaimauga at all in the match and only brought them on when the game was over. While the game was on the line he wanted to win so much he couldn't bring himself to take a gamble with them.

He wants to win more than all of us. Never ever say that Webster does not care about winning. He actually cares about winning in an unbalanced way that hurts the team.

 

[Mr Drag]

The one positive to all of this is that the performance and result was so poor it has basically ripped the band aid off and exposed the wound. How we treat the abscess now is the big question.

We just don't want to become the Tigers and pay overs for every player and the wooden spoon!

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Does anyone have any theories on what the hell happened to Niukore?

Seriously - bloke is massive, but can't put on a hit and struggles to get any post contact metres. Deadset softie.

He can't afford another average season, it would mean we roll into 2026 with him off contract and Webby again letting it die a slow death.

 

[Wrighty]

Here is some positives from the glass is half full side of things

1) CHT looked really good. That was the best game of his life. For years people said this tired old quite from I think Bennett "It takes 80-100 games for a half to arrive". Maybe it is true. No rotten fruit but he looked as good as Dearden out there. I had to rub my eyes. Looked amazing in his pre-season game too. If you gave me a choice between a victory with the usual suspects playing well and a loss where a key spine player had a break through game I would take the later. This is huge news for the Warriors as we look to firm up our spine options for 2026 and beyond
2) RTS looked the business on the wing. Why did we play him at centre last year now when it seems so obvious.
3) Vaimauga and Leka despite getting garbage minutes looked very good. And like they were physically bigger than last year especially leka - he looked much bigger than last year.
4) Our red zone attack which some of you expressed concerns about converted "OK". We got across the stripe twice out of 7 or 8 attempts. We would have scored more if the Raiders had let us down their end more. We nearly converted a third time as well with RTS missing Chanel's grubber.

Finally even though we and me as well are giving some concerns about webster. He called Chanell and picked him out of all the half choices he had when the pressure was on to pick TMM at 6. He backed his gut and went with CHT. Yes we lost but CHT will get us some Ws the way he is going - Metcalf just needs to wake up. I think he had stage fright as he was awake in the preseason games.

Some big ups from the game as well as some of the deltas.

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Here is some positives from the glass is half full side of things

1) CHT looked really good. That was the best game of his life. For years people said this tired old quite from I think Bennett "It takes 80-100 games for a half to arrive". Maybe it is true. No rotten fruit but he looked as good as Dearden out there. I had to rub my eyes. Looked amazing in his pre-season game too. If you gave me a choice between a victory with the usual suspects playing well and a loss where a key spine player had a break through game I would take the later. This is huge news for the Warriors as we look to firm up our spine options for 2026 and beyond
2) RTS looked the business on the wing. Why did we play him at centre last year now when it seems so obvious.
3) Vaimauga and Leka despite getting garbage minutes looked very good. And like they were physically bigger than last year especially leka - he looked much bigger than last year.
4) Our red zone attack which some of you converted "OK". We got across the stripe twice out of 7 or 8 attempts. We would have scored more if the Raiders had let us down their end more. We nearly converted a third time as well with RTS missing Chanel's grubber.

Finally even though we and me as well are giving some concerns about webster. He called Chanell and picked him out of all the half choices he had when the pressure was on to pick TMM at 6. He backed his gut and went with CHT. Yes we lost but CHT will get us some Ws the way he is going - Metcalf just needs to wake up. I think he had stage fright as he was awake in the preseason games.

Some big ups from the game as well as some of the deltas.

I can't agree on CHT, he looked slow, he didnt engage the line offten, he couldn't tackle and therefore they got away offloads.

I have seen him play well above this game!

No offense but you may need to keep rubbing those eyes.

 

[Wrighty]

I can't agree on CHT, he looked slow, he didnt engage the line offten, he couldn't tackle and therefore they got away offloads.

I have seen him play well above this game!

No offense but you may need to keep rubbing those eyes.

Do you play fantasy. He scored 42 points to Metcalf's 21 points. Nathan Cleary got 55.