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Desperate to keep their season alive, the Warriors did enough to walk away the victors 24-20
This was always going to be a tough match to review, a win for the Warriors would have had an asterisk next to it due to the number of players the Knights had out, but a defeat would have been unacceptable due to the Knights missing talent.
I was nervous before the game, the Warriors had a similar situation last year when they played a Panthers side minus their stars and were well and truly humbled, so I was glad the Warriors did not take the Knights lightly.
The first half was forgettable (more on that below), but the Warriors came out in the second half and fought their way back into the match with the much-needed return of second phase football.
It wasn't an excellent performance by any stretch but seeing the Warriors wanting the result more than their opponents for the first time in a while left me with a smile on my face which leads me to my positives.
I'm not sure what was said by Kearney or the senior players at halftime, but it worked.
Being down 12-2 at the break, I was almost resigned to the fact that the Warriors were done for, due to how many times this season the Warriors collapsed in the second half.
I still think the Warriors playoff hopes are over, but if the Warriors can perform for the rest of the season like they did in this second half, then they may string some wins together and creep up the ladder.
With injuries to Karl Lawton, Bunty Afoa and Peta Hiku, the Warriors spent a lot of the second half with a reduced bench, this meant that the forwards had to play extended minutes and I thought they did well.
My standouts were Agnatius Paasi, Lachlan Burr and Sam Lisone.
Paasi was strong up front, running for 152metres and relentless with his tackling, the sin-bin was unfortunate but was expected as the Warriors were trying to wind down the clock.
Burr had a strong showing and continues to be one of my favourites this season, he adds much-needed size to the pack, and his offloads helped get the Warriors into scoring situations, the Warriors continue to perform better when he is on the field, so I hope that he returns to the starting 13 next week.
And then there was Lisone, I think this was the best performance from Sam in a long time, running strong but also showing his passing game feeding the forwards outside him with some clinical passes.
He performance was rewarded with a try, and if he can perform like this regularly, he may find himself back first-grade fulltime and perhaps even get a new contract.
Lastly, it was good to see the return of the offloads, 10 in total.
The Warriors are at their best when they get into second phase allowing their talent in their backline to tear defences to shreds.
If the Offloads stick around, the Warriors give themselves a higher chance of walking away with the two points.
It wasn't a perfect performance, however, which leads me to my negatives.
That first half was horrible, even though the Warriors had a few scoring chances for the majority of the first 40 minutes they Warriors were guilty of the predictable attack that has plagued them for the majority of the 2019 season.
One out running with an aimless kick on the fifth is not NRL level let alone top-eight material, so the Warriors need to eliminate it from their game.
The Warriors showed what they can do when they unshackle their talented players, so they just need to come out of the gates with that mentality.
The Warriors discipline and error rate continues to hurt them, with the Warriors guilty of back to back penalties several times throughout the game.
With an increase in offloads, you can expect an increase in errors, but the Warriors just need to show the ball more respect and reduce the low percent passes and hold onto the ball better when going into contact.
Against a stronger side, these penalties and errors may have sealed the Warriors fate as early as halftime, so they just need to reign them back.
My last negative has nothing to do with either side, it is with the officials.
The referees have been poor more often than not in 2019, but this match was genuinely baffling.
It wasn't just against the Warriors either as the Knights were hard done by with some incorrect calls (One of Maumalo's tries appeared to have a forward pass involved), but the Bunker denied a certain try for Ken, gave the Knights six more tackles after it looked like Mason Lino knocked the ball.
My biggest issue during the match was when the Peta Hiku was knocked into next week, and the game was not stopped.
The Ref said that a trainer needed to advise him of the situation despite Gavin Badger being right next to Hiku staring directly at him, the Knights did score right after this, but when player safety is one of the big talking points this year it was inexcusable to see the play continue.
Im not sure what the NRL can do to fix the issues but coming out during the week and saying sorry does not cut it, the refs are basically infallible with the players and coaches not allowed to say much about their performance so what can be done.
I think the officials need to be treated like the players, you have a shocker you get dropped, if there are consequences to poor performance, then the chances of a better performance should improve.
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240 metres, 2 (should have been 3) tries and now sitting tied at the top of the NRL tryscoring leaderboard with 12.
He is head and shoulders above the rest of his team-mates this year almost down to his consistency alone, even if he doesn't cross the chalk to score he is always crucial in getting the Warriors into scoring positions with his devasting runs.
There is a chance that the Warriors could have their wingers go back to back as the NRL's top try scorer, I've had a look and could not find any other teams able to claim that feat, so fingers crossed for big Ken's form to continue.
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In his defence, he was a late call-up for Patrick Herbert, but he had me pulling my hair out in this match.
On several occasions, he had the chance to put David Fusitu'a into space but chose to go alone in Kata like fashion.
People criticise Hiku a lot, but he knows how to get his winger over the line, and that is what the Warriors need to do with a strike weapon like Fusitu'a.
If Herbert is out again this week, Beale will have a chance at redemption, and I hope he takes it.
Round 17 has the Warriors once again in Australia, this time facing the Brisbane Broncos.
The Warriors need to string wins together, and the Broncos are in a crisis of confidence right now sitting 14th on the ladder.
This gives the Warriors a good chance of getting a win here, but the Broncos showed how dangerous they can be with their win over the Sharks.
If the Warriors forwards perform like they did in the second half against the Knights and the Warriors halves put pressure on Darius Boyd, then they should be able to walk away with the win.
The Warriors have already tasted victory at Suncorp in 2019 and im backing them to win again this time by 8.
So that was my take on an improved round 16, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
What would you do to improve the refereeing in the NRL?
Who was your player of the match and player to improve?
Do you think the Warriors have a shot at top eight still?
What is your score prediction for Round 17?
This post first appeared on Nz Warriors 2017 Season Preview : Above The Line - The Kearney Era Begins, please read the originial post: here
