Post Match Warriors v Sharks - [Round 1, 2024]

[Stalefish540]

Ref this, ref that. Boo hoo.

We were one dimensional at absolute best for 60mins with the ball.

Absolute yawn fest with ball in hand.

 

[Completion Rate]

Missed Charnze's timing.

 

[Inruin]

Ford was terrible tonight.

Can't play with one half. Metcalf surprised me with a great individual try but you can't ignore the rest of his play. Absolute passenger in the second half with the game on the line. If you want the odd highlight then he is ok.

Disappointed result but not unexpected.

Worst bit will be if Egan's injury is serious.

 

[Cces]

Tohu, AFB & Barnett created the platform to win that twice over! 70th minute midfield scrum & the decision is just to pass it out to RTS to see what he can do. That play summed up our lack of imagination with the pill

 

[Boats n Hoes]

Geez you can tell all the bandwagoners that jumped on board last year......their usually the loudest when things dont go to plan lol.

Disappointed but not too worried yet tbh. We we're far far far from our best yet were still just a converted try away from what wouldve been an undeserved win against a slick outfit.

Errors and penalties killed momentum - by and large in our control.
Unable to dominate the ruck in the middle with fast play the balls so when we did go wide we hadnt created numbers - somehow need AFB tp play 80 minutes, will also help once Niukore gets back, plus Charnze as some of the timing on our shifts we're off.

Welcome to the NRL folks, where if your even slightly off your game the team running last will cut u, let alone a good side like the Sharks. Dont ditch your season passes just yet.

Need to be better across the park tho, no two ways about it.

 

[Sir Arrow]

We need another Dynamic hooker, Lussick offers nothing.

Surprised Ale didn't get a run.

Ford must be on the cutting block. He is going backwards.

 

[Warrior#138]

CNK is gonna be a big in but I actually thought Tuapiki was really good tonight. Maybe not in attacking shape but in all the areas that can embarrass a young fullback he stood up. He’s a quality back up and wasn’t the worst on the park. Let’s just say I’m a Holden man

 

[selector]

Every coach has a blindspot when it comes to how good certain players actually are, for Andrew Webster that player is Jackson Ford. He has feet for hands gives away needless penalites and far too often gets caught out planting his feet defensively. The amount of times he gets put through a whole by SJ or Egan and he cannot finish it. For the teams sake, I hope by the end of the year he is playying NSW cup.

On tonights game. Webster got his substitutions all wrong took off AFB and Barnett at the same time. Egan spent too much time of the field. Lussick is not the answer when it comes to Egans backup I am afraid. Bunty Afoa played small minutes and I dont think Tom Ale even got on the field?

Beyond his running game I am afraid Metlcalf has nothing else in his locker. Passing game is very poor does, not how to straighten up the attack. How many times did he just catch and pass needs to learn to egnage his defenders before passing.

Would like to see RTS playing a more roving role on attack he is just wasted standing out in the centres especially outside of Metcalf and Ford. Would've loved to see them change it up tonignt by having RTS out the back on the sweeping plays from Johnson on a few ocassions,

Anyway first rant over for the season onto next week.

 

[sup42]

maybe @sup42 was right.
lose tonight and beat the melbins next week?
i’ll take it!

To be quite honest I am happy with tonight.
We lost by 4 points to a top eight side.

The scoreline was low, maxing out at 16 points, which means we can still defend.

Quality NRL sides lose tight contests, it is a Hallmark of a top four type outfit, no harm done tonight.

Keep this level of effort and our season will go well in games we click and come away with high possession stats and low errors.

 

[marv.]

OK ladies and jellybeans….

this whole thing isn’t really the same without @Bruce and his post game stats.
if anyones in contact with him in the real world tell him we need him!

and bring back @kiwiborn95 while you’re at it!

loved that kids positivity.

 

[Tragic]

Capewell over-rated/Injury prone
He dont have any other second rowers ready for 1st grade so stuck with them I suppose
Rts to fullback bring in Pompey maybe Ali

Got a rib cartilage injury, played on. Would of hurt like fuck.

 

[BarnesNZ]

SJ may have lost his electric speed off the mark.

But with Wade's directness and ability to step out, he engages the markers and hold's the D up just enough with a bullet out in front. It's nearing Smither's level of marker engagement and subtle craft around the ruck.

It's what gives SJ that extra bit of time from the speed he's lost to square up, jink out and really ignite that right edge.

What i'm trying to say is, pray for Wade.

SJ going for the better percentage plays now that's the best thing I've seen. The ingoal grubber is way better than the hail Mary bomb he used to do .and there all accurate as fuck...joey John's style

 

[Up the guttz]

Metcalf still can’t make a decision. Passing to AFB to kick on the 5th when you want to be a 7!!!

Ford is all effort with no skill.

Egan is the most important player in this team IMO. I’d love to see the avg meters per set between when Egan and Lussick were on. As soon as Egan came back I we rolled down the field again.

 

[Hman]

That last 60mins gave me ‘Nathan Brown era’ vibes..

- taking our 2 alpha props off at the same time
- playing a 3 man bench
- one dimensional, clunky attack
- trying to go around without gaining ascendancy in the middle
- confusing interchanges
- dumb relieving penalties when we had them pinned in their 20
- Fords feet for hands

Lots to work on this week!

 

[sup42]

We’re gonna be fine, that game gave us a scare…..only 1 round in.

Think of it as our 3rd & last trial game. Clunky and the pace & intensity of first grade was apparent. Tough comp but we have the goods…..key players out etc. Webby has to make some adjustments and tough calls.

We didn’t get pumped. Sharks are a good side….especially defensively & they are big…..side note: Talakai is a beast aye, built like a bowling ball & runs/rolls like one, something about short stocky centres that are super dangerous.

But we’re a better side.

We could’ve leaked more points and we were close to scoring at least 2 more tries.

There’s plenty of upsides to look forward to.

I’ve still got plenty of hope, gave us a C but when things start clicking with a little luck going our way also we’re well within the running.

And don’t forget that first 20mins…..that’s not traditional Warriors so it’s promising.

Bring on Melbourne. Last night will be a distant memory.

Well said. Next week presents an opportunity for total absolution, who cares about a clunky round one start (I was expecting it, kept saying a grinding game is life vs the Sharks). But yeah who cares, the Storms scalp is the prize.
Beat the Storm and the season is full bore on track.

Our problem at the moment is we are a top team missing half of its spine half of the time.

Once Egan was out we slid to fumbling underdogs. I feel sorry for Taine, it takes a while to learn those right edge block plays, Berry took quite a while to get it right, CNK took a while, even RTS back in the day.....yet people want Taine doing it fluidly when Egan is only playing half a game.

Last year when we lost half our spine we lost games like this.

RTS was well off from where he could be, not through lack of trying, rather through lack of time to develop those all important combos.

I don't get why SJ is being blamed, he put on an Adam Reynolds like masterclass in pinning the Sharks. SJ kept us in that game and it almost came off.

I hope he can repeat that against Melbourne, we're gonna need it....every time we face those purple bastards we seem to go in wracked with injuries.

 

[Tookey 2.0]

Man those last 6 or 7 pages were a bit doom and gloom

Sharks are a good team and had a great plan - dare I say it - very Warriors v Raiders game plan from last year, where we soaked up all the pressure in the first half and then went on to win.

Metcalf - I thought was pretty decent. Great run for that try, had a few kicks that have his chasers a chance, and gave Roger some early ball at times. Defence was largely good. Had some mistakes/errors but as the 2nd playmaker in a team I thought he did most of what you could ask of him. Appears to have matured from that 'deer in the headlights, run at every opportunity' mode he was in last year. If you were expecting Darren Lockyer you'd be disappointed, but hes definately improved from last year.

Tuaupiki - maaaan I like this dude but for me, he's a 'nearly man'. Looks dangerous and nearly gets through the line every time but is caught.
In all honesty, he doesn't seem to fit our style of play. We had Walsh before last year and he did great things at times, but like Tuaupiki he just didn't fit out style. When CNK went down I stated the decision is essentially between who we want to grow more - Ali v Tuaupiki (by having Roger play the other position) so I really think we need to reevaluate that for the next few rounds.

But overall, i don't think we need too many changes. Defence was largely good. SJ was good at forcing repeat sets, our attacking structures at times were good...we have PLENTY of upside, overall it was an okay performance with plenty to work on.

 

[defensivebomb]

I’m a fan of metcalfe’s speed and runs but he showed yesterday he’s got some deficiencies. He starves RTS of room so we can’t get the ball out to Montoya. Think it is because he relies on having a running game that by the time he works out he can’t run it he shuffles it to RTS

Keen to see TMM or dare I say, CHT.

Also, a bit worried about the size of the gap between Egan and Lussick

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Taine should stay. I don’t feel like he got out played by his oppo.

RTS was rusty and died with the ball too many times. That edge isn’t cohesive yet. Metcalf cut back in half the time and the other RTS killed the play. What we didnt see was those guys taking the defence apart. They weren’t moving together.

Lussick isn’t the answer to any question. Put CHT there, push Walker to the middles and run 3 halves. We need the extra ball player with CNK out and Metcalf not up to speed.

Laban in for Ford. That allows time to blood the rookie and give Ford a message. Also allows you to make the reverse swap after a few games with the pressure off.

 

[Bevosa]

On a positive note, I thought Berry is starting to show why we put all the faith in him. He looked great.

 

[Inruin]

Taine should stay. I don’t feel like he got out played by his oppo.

RTS was rusty and died with the ball too many times. That edge isn’t cohesive yet. Metcalf cut back in half the time and the other RTS killed the play. What we didnt see was those guys taking the defence apart. They weren’t moving together.

Lussick isn’t the answer to any question. Put CHT there, push Walker to the middles and run 3 halves. We need the extra ball player with CNK out and Metcalf not up to speed.

Laban in for Ford. That allows time to blood the rookie and give Ford a message. Also allows you to make the reverse swap after a few games with the pressure off.

Im obviously not a fan of Metcalf other than he is an adequate back up player. I have watched him fairly closely as you have done for Reese Walsh. If anyone is expecting anything much more than what we saw tonight then it's going to be a long season for you. You will get the odd highlight reel play. That try he scored was a great try. But you can't ignore the rest of his game because those highlights are going to be few and far between and don't make up for the remaining chunk of play. You have RTS and Montoya outside him who looked sharp in the first trial with a half who has been out of the game for a season. What you saw last night is exactly what you saw last season with Pompey and Montoya and everyone was jumping on Pompey as the weak link. You only had to look at their body language to realise they were completely frustrated The reality is you have a guy with some speed who wants to be a half but has a very limited passing game and limited decision making. The trials he was caught on the 5th a few times or out of position when it mattered. Last night not aware enough for an RTS offload, caught on the last a few times (passing to AFB for the last tackle kick wtf?) and completely missing in that second half. If you talk about heart, Reece Walsh at least wants to be involved with the game on the line and have ball in hand trying something, creating something. Go back and watch the last 20 minutes. He is completely static on most plays. I actually think he looks lost and the team either don't trust him or he doesn't want to be involved when the going gets tough. I would even say that the team either can't rely on him, don't trust him, possibly don't like playing with him or even could be all of the above - watch the last 20 with those things in mind. I don't think I'm wrong.

SJ was playing for a long period there with a rookie FB who I thought was actually pretty good, just needs to work more on those link plays (CNK took a while to get them too), a back up 9 and a 6 who was missing - and he still kept us in the game.

So, IMO, expect more of the same. Highlight plays every so often. We will beat weaker teams but RTS and Montoya are unlikely to look good on that edge and unlikely to get much good quality, quick ball that puts them in space to take advantage of RTS skills. And, as I said preseason, you will have posters asking if RTS was worth bringing back and why he doesn't look that good at centre. You actually don't have to look far for the answer.

I expect largely the same team to be named next week with the exception of injuries. But I'm expecting the left edge to look pretty much the same and us to be competitive if we have 3/4 of our spine playing. We are better with TMM or dare I say it CHT at 6. They aren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination and will make errors too, but they would take us to 3.5/4 spine players and unlock that left edge.

That's all I've got to say about that. (Is the hang up the phone the new mic drop?)

 

[Tragic]

God the footy IQ of people on here is shocking.

Metcalf for whatever reason is going to get bagged no matter what by some of you.

Without him we probably score zero points yesterday.

The real concern is if Egan is injured cause without him our whole attack falls apart, we looked like a top 2 side when he was on and the second he went off everything literally fell apart.

Those suggesting to bring back Pompey and CHT need a swift uppercut cause you literally have no idea.

Ok graeme lowe, metcalf has a running game which is great when we are dominating the middle and have front foot ball like in the first 20 minutes. After that he did some on kicks but generally looked like he didn't know what to do and ran sideways so the defence slid on RTS And Montoya.
He has some skills but TMM would unlock that side better imho.

Edit: inruin beat me to it, I just said what he already said and I don't like to agree with him but he is right this time. The ref was shit too.

 

[Cces]

Am I the only one who thinks RTS is overrated? There was nothing to like about his performance.

2nd most Post Contact Metres in the team, 2nd most metres from dummy half, most Offloads, 5 Tackle Breaks & no defensive reads leading to tries. Not bad for his first NRL start as a Centre

 

[Wrighty]

My review

1) Lussick was fine. Of course Egan is better. Lussick is a back up hooker and that is all he will ever be. But he is useful and I thought did an ok job and did not influence the result one way or the other apart from an ill advised dummy half sneak on the 4th tackle 2 metres out from the line in the 70th minute instead of giving the pill to SJ to make a play happen.

2) Enough has been said about Ford already. My only additional point is not to give him the pill or run a play around him in the red zone to begin with. Just use him as a tackle bot and hit ups out of our own end. With the nature of salary cap you need to have 3 to 4 minimum wage players in your 17 and find a role for them to play. We seem to run plays around him like he is David Fifita. Putting him into a hole and expecting him to stiff arm the full back and crash over for the try. He is not David Fifita. Quit running offensive plays around him. Or if running lines and scoring tries is a requirement of his edge forward position then get Laban in there next week because Ford can not catch passes fed to him at short range no matter how soft the hands are the half uses.

3) We lost the game on Defence in my view. That Ramien dummy half sneak try was soft as and Ford and Metcalf should be told off at training for allowing it in. For those of you who want to win the premiership this season Webster explained in his pre-season interviews we will need to be the number one team in the NRL at defence as opposed to just being good at defence.

4) The coaching staff told us all off season long that they were aware teams would come hunting the warriors this year and try to put a notch on their bed post by beating a top four team and premiership contender. Webster even said "Let them come" in one video clip. Well someone didn't explain this point to the players because you could tell they were expecting the 2023 version of the Sharks and effectively we got ambushed by a hungrier more determined team who were out to make a name for themselves by challenging and beating the fastest gun in the west to use a movie analogy That said, I don't agree with people who posted that the Sharks are a good side and there is no shame in losing to them. The Sharks will do well to finish 6th at most this year. Why are we ok with losing to a team who at best is 6th and more likely to finish 8th to 10th? We should have won last night and it was one of our easier games of our first 5 matches. All the teams are going to turn up like the Sharks did last night against the Warriors this year. All the games will be harder than last year. And while I am on a roll it looked like pre-season had been too long for the boys. They had cabin fever and wanted to be on the field too badly. All the forwards were excited about scoring a try in the red zone instead of leaving it up the players who are paid to score and set up tries to do so. I was watching our clunky offence and in my view it all came down to every man and his dog putting his hand up every play to have the pill and wanting to be involved presumably because after pre-season they were all dieing to play footie. At times on offence we had players getting in the way of each other and all sorts of people trying to score hero bar tries instead of giving the ball the Metcalf or SJ to make a play happen. No wonder Luke Metcalf went invisible in the second half. He was getting out called by the forwards who thought they could barge their way through 5 or 6 tacklers from 10 metres out to score the match winning try by themselves.
Role players need to be role players. Match winners need the pill in the championship minutes and we didn't seem to have had that conversation with ourselves. We didn't completely look like a rabble. But we looked more like a rabble than a team. Last year we looked like a team even in game one of the season last year.

5) For those wanting RTS at Fullback next week. Let that pipe dream go. If you watch Webster's presser he said Taine had a terrific game and has no intention of replacing him. We may go winless to start this season until CNK returns and then go on a run after that. Taine would have been ok if he concentrated on defence but he really injected himself in the red zone and as a result screwed up many of our offensive chances.

6) To finish on some good notes. Webster in his post game presser sounded like he was well aware of all the issues and says they are fixable. So in Webby we trust and let's see if we can put one on Storm next week. I think we can do it.
I thought AFB looked incredible. SJ looked in good nick. And many elite teams lose the first game of the season and then heat up in rounds 2 and 3.

 

[Noitall]

AFB
1 try
23 tackles, no misses
220 running metres
61 post contact
How the fuck do we replace this guy?

 

[PhilsySH35]

I had the fam's around on Friday Avro fired up the good ol Oklahoma joe's smoker had brisket, short ribs and pork shoulder and home made bbq sauce - best dam BBQ I've done ever, watched the reserves play had a great feed, had a few cold ones before the main game, saw the first 2 tries to us, everything was in alignment - we were going to win without a doubt, then we lost.., I don't blame everyone for being down, It's all good family, whether we win, loose or draw, da Wahz are here to stay, if it wasn't for the Aussies, they let us into their wonderful, beautiful game of rugby league, I love this awesome bloody game!!! the AB's are my first love, but I have a new love now, dog gone!! the NRL is the most exciting game in town, can't wait for round 2, we got this fam's, "just saying it's a matter of perspective, a matter of expectation 2 little words which can impact us all positively or negatively - Wahz hard!!! smile and be happy!