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After last weeks less than stellar performance against the Knights, the Warriors played host to the Dragons in Brisbane for Magic round.
With their season on the line after four straight losses and the team's heart being called into question in recent weeks, the Warriors needed a strong outing, and they delivered, defeating the Dragons 26-18.

The Dragons have been a bogey side for the New Zealand side, but the tide may be changing with the Warriors now defeating the Dragons three times in a row.
It has felt like an age since I have been able to write about a Warriors victory, but with the Warriors down 18-6 at halftime, I thought they were staring down the barrel of their fifth loss in a row.
The Dragons started strong, scoring all of their points in the first 23 minutes of this match but Corey Norman's absence and an apparent lack of fitness saw them unable to hold back a Warriors side determined to return to the winners' circle.

The game wasn't perfect, but the Warriors showed a lot of improvement which leads me to my positives from the match.

Against a large pack, the Warriors forwards came to the party, when the Warriors started to claw their way into the match at around the 30-minute mark, the forwards set the platform and allowed Roache and Lawton to scoot out of dummy half, really keeping the Dragons on the backfoot.
Green directed play well, and new signing Kodi Nikorima had a solid outing showing some spark that has been missing this season.
The new spine could become quite dangerous with a few more games under their belt.

The Warriors fitness shone through in this victory, as the time was running out the Dragons looked out on their feet and the New Zealand side looked like they had more points in them.
Their conditioning is still one of their most significant assets, and as long as the Warriors can keep themselves in the contest, they are always a chance of turning a game in their favour.

After the Knights neutered the back three last week, they returned strong in Brisbane. With the Dragons not getting the best territory in the second half, they were forced to keep their kicks in the field of play more often than not, and this allowed Tuivasa-Sheck, Maumalo and Fusitu'a to start the Warriors sets off strong, and when that happens, the Warriors confidence increases tenfold.

Lastly was just the fact that after such a quick start, the Warriors were able to stop the Dragons from scoring a single point for the last 60 minutes of the match. Most of the games this season have seen the Warriors leak points in the late stages so to see the Warriors hold a team out for the entire second half instils some confidence in me for the remainder of the season.

The match wasn't flawless, however, which leads me to my negatives.

There are still too many missed tackles for my liking, 38 missed tackles is a severe issue. 14 of those came from Green and Nikorima getting run over by the large forwards, but the Warriors need to just tighten the defence in the middle up, the edge defence has improved with the addition of Patrick Herbert, and I'm confident that they can sort the middle out too.

I'm just picky now but I wasn't happy with the slow start, it may have been the occasion of the Magic round, but the Warriors seemed to be a step behind for the first 20 minutes, the Dragons got burnt out, so it worked for the Warriors. If the Warriors start slow against a stronger side, they may find themselves in strife.

Copyright Photo: Patrick Hamilton / Photosport

My Warrior of the match goes to Karl Lawton.
Lawton was the definition of an impact player in this matchmaking the most out of only his second appearance of the season.
With his contract expiring this season, he showed Warriors management plenty of reasons to keep him on their books.
His ability to spot lazy defenders lead to him running for 92 metres in only 20 metres, and he doesn't shy away from his defensive responsibilities.
As experienced as Issac Luke is, I would be more than happy to see the Roache, Lawton combination continue this week.

Copyright Photo: Warriors.kiwi

After watching the game several times over the weekend, I couldn't highlight a player that needed to improve.
Quite a few of the players didn't play fantastic in the first half, but all the ones I would have picked bounced back in the second half so I just and going to give this section a miss this round, fingers crossed this trend continues for round 10.

 Round 10 has the Warriors stay across the ditch, heading to Panther's country to face a Penrith side that is on a 5 match losing streak.
The Warriors have had issues this year facing teams on losing streaks, and the Panthers will be desperate to put on an improved performance for their fans so this match could be a banana skin game.
I think the Warriors should keep the same 17 for this match and if they do they should walk away with another victory.
I'm picking the Warriors to win by 16 here, they will be too strong for a Panthers side that has failed to show their claws this season.

So that was a much-improved round 9, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.

What were your thoughts on the Magic Round?
Who were your player of the match and your player to improve?
Are there any changes you would make to the game day 17?
What is your score prediction for Round 10?