Team List NZ Warriors v Cronulla Sharks - [Round 5, 2026]
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Full stops go outside brackets.
Not if they are a sentence of their own.
You guys
Should
Check
Your grammar,
Should
Check
Your grammar,
I think we got this. Boys won't be flat this week in a game where we are underdogs. Winning the battle up front is key but another important battle is Egan vs Brailey. Given that Brailey is the odds on favorite for blues hooker this time round, Wayde will surely be looking to put one over him and show the blues that he's still worth having a look at. Whoever's team wins the battle up front will carve up in this game. Hopefully it's us.
EIT is in line for 19th man and due for his first game/ bench sit of the season. And ahead of Gannon who probably needs game time in NSW cup.
Sort of feel they are rotating the 19th, no chance of playing role around with the 18th more an opportunity if injuries force us to go in a different direction mid game.
Sort of feel they are rotating the 19th, no chance of playing role around with the 18th more an opportunity if injuries force us to go in a different direction mid game.
That list
1 to 23 is
As long as that is a moderate fire and not a rager, yes.
Otherwise...
They can indeed, if it's a full sentence.
Team looks good, Iwe need to win this one, don't want to lose momentum
WAH MAN
⭐
We are second on the table. Who made us underdogs?
I'm looking forward to the game too and even though I was wrong last week about us smashing the tigers I am confidently speculating that we'll be nailing all of those things we ballsed up last week.
look at the odds, Sharks are clear favorites at 1.55 last time I checked for this game. A lot of it is probably because of Barney's injury but Aussies also hold us to a higher standard, so even a tiny blip is enough for them to get off us. Conversely it would take a team like Melbourne, Roosters, etc a prolonged poor run of form over several months before markets downgrade their favorites tag. It is what it is. But we always do better when we aren't expected to win, so I think Cronulla is in for another unpleasant surprise at Shark Park this weekend. There's going to be an Easter uprising and it's wahs that's going to be on the offense!
Where's the Nathan Brown special where we have 4 players sin binned?
WAH MAN
⭐
Underdogs is probably fair and accurate.
Every time we change our halves we go through a reset and rebuild.
I know people don't like that idea, but hey I didn't make up the last thirty years of clunky halves combos that the Warriors take around the dreaded six rounds to start to look like they know what they doing (Round ten then eh ish).
Till then, I am looking for us to stick near the top eight, within a win or so outside at worst, lower eight even better (yes I have lowered my expectations drastically based off the unknown variable of how long it takes Boyd and Metcalf to pair up properly).
Metcalf will probably need maybe three or four games to find his tackling legs too, so the defenders around him will have to step it up in the absence of his body guard Capewell (Perhaps we see Gannon on that side with his big defensive engine so there are less disruptions.....perhaps not....just spit balling...not really saying it should or even will happen). But whatever the order of the day is, I would strongly suggest Webster look at an eighty minute back rower to guard Metcalf (combos, combos, combos).
This teething period could be a bit painful, so be it, get on with it, the sooner we bite the bullet and go all in on these two halves the better, cutting that time down with NSW cup time is just dumb, just ask the Kiwis who win tournaments off building spine combos with blokes who rarely play more than a series together.
Every time we change our halves we go through a reset and rebuild.
I know people don't like that idea, but hey I didn't make up the last thirty years of clunky halves combos that the Warriors take around the dreaded six rounds to start to look like they know what they doing (Round ten then eh ish).
Till then, I am looking for us to stick near the top eight, within a win or so outside at worst, lower eight even better (yes I have lowered my expectations drastically based off the unknown variable of how long it takes Boyd and Metcalf to pair up properly).
Metcalf will probably need maybe three or four games to find his tackling legs too, so the defenders around him will have to step it up in the absence of his body guard Capewell (Perhaps we see Gannon on that side with his big defensive engine so there are less disruptions.....perhaps not....just spit balling...not really saying it should or even will happen). But whatever the order of the day is, I would strongly suggest Webster look at an eighty minute back rower to guard Metcalf (combos, combos, combos).
This teething period could be a bit painful, so be it, get on with it, the sooner we bite the bullet and go all in on these two halves the better, cutting that time down with NSW cup time is just dumb, just ask the Kiwis who win tournaments off building spine combos with blokes who rarely play more than a series together.
We need to have higher expectations for our team. We aren't the mediocre team of the Kearney and Brown eras where we would be happy to merely be in contention for 8th spot. Under Webby, we've transitioned into a consistent top 6 team contending for the 4 which is where we were last year and 2023 and what we are positioning to do again this year. To do that, we need to win games like this on a regular basis against similar top 6 teams like Cronulla at their home. This is a game that is eminently winnable for us and we do match up well against the Sharks, which is why we've won the last 3 straight at Shark Park and the last 4/5 against them.
More generally, it would be incredibly disappointing to piss away our great start to the season by dropping off a couple of games now as you seem resigned to us doing. Melbourne is tough away from home (although they are running into form troubles and injury issues) but then we have two very winnable home games v Tits and Phins. If we are serious this year, we should be aiming for 6-2 after 8 rounds, not simply clinging on to an 8th spot via a 4-4 record. The team is more than capable of achieving that.
IMO, it's important to win at least one of the next 2 away games v Cronulla and or Melbourne. One could argue that Canberra 2026 are like us in 2024 where they are struggling to back up a good year. Roosters are still figuring stuff out and the Knights, although gutsy, are far from serious contenders. To beat a serious contender away from home would be massive to signal our serious intent to the rest of the comp and demonstrate that last week was just a blip on the radar.
My expectations for seasons finish are quite high actually, my post refers to the next six rounds.
We will be in the top six come seasons end, ideally top four by my sense of where we are headed, but yes I expect us to take a hit with two halves that have never really played together before as happens at every other NRL club when a new pairing roles out (oh sure there are examples that disprove that idea but lets remember these blokes didn't have a preseason together).
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