Unfortunately, that feeling was on the money as the Titans walked away with a 20-18 victory.
The Titans started the match quickly, scoring in the first minute via Beau Fermor; both sides traded sets and errors before the Titans went over again with Jayden Campbell throwing a cutout pass to Greg Marzhew, who rampaged down the sideline to score the second try of the afternoon. An error from the Titans gave the Warriors their chance to get on the board when Wayde Egan burrowed over from dummy-half. The visitors looked to have levelled the scores when Chanel Harris-Tavita crashed over the try line; however, the Bunker deemed he had lost possession when grounding the ball.
The Titans started the match quickly, scoring in the first minute via Beau Fermor; both sides traded sets and errors before the Titans went over again with Jayden Campbell throwing a cutout pass to Greg Marzhew, who rampaged down the sideline to score the second try of the afternoon. An error from the Titans gave the Warriors their chance to get on the board when Wayde Egan burrowed over from dummy-half. The visitors looked to have levelled the scores when Chanel Harris-Tavita crashed over the try line; however, the Bunker deemed he had lost possession when grounding the ball.
The Titans were next on the scoresheet when they returned to what worked, with David Fifita throwing a cutout pass to Marzhew, who cruised away for his second try.
The Warriors struck back with former Titan Ash Taylor linking with Reece Walsh, who then put Marcelo Montoya over in the corner. With the clock winding down, Harris-Tavita nailed a 40/20 and Taylor was back, punching through a grubber which was dived on by Phillipo Sami, that appeared to be the final play of the half, but the Bunker decided to take another look and found that Smai had not grounded the ball and that Adam Pompey had in fact grounded the ball and scored, handing the Warriors an 18-16 lead at the break.
The second half was full of errors and half chances for both sides, with the only scoring play coming from Sami, who handed his side the lead back in the 57th minute. The Warriors made a few attempts but could not seal the deal, with the closest being a flick pass from Jesse Arthars that was dropped by Pompey. The Warriors tried to create more opportunities and made a few half breaks but also made some poor decisions and couldn't seal the deal, allowing the Titans to hold on for a 20-18 victory.
Well, another week, another frustrating performance. The Warriors once again did themselves no favours making silly errors and poor choices on attack.
The referees did make some poor calls in this match, I thought Harris-Tavita scored his try, and the stripping call against the Warriors late in the game was also incorrect. However, these calls did not cost them the match; the Warriors still had plenty of chances to put this match away; they just didn't take those chances with both hands. Call me stupid, but I am still optimistic; they continue to show glimpses of what they can deliver when things click, they just need to quickly improve in a few areas, and the wins will come.
Despite the result, there were some things I liked in this match which leads to my positives from the match.
Match Positives
The forwards did a lot of work in this match; all of the forwards (except for Matt Lodge and Bayley Sironen) ran for over 100 metres ( Fonua-Blake - 186m, Josh Curran - 152m, Bunty Afoa - 145m, Euan Aitken - 121m, Eliesa Katoa - 120m, Jazz Tevaga - 113m and Aaron Pene - 112m). If Lodge didn't go off sick, I am confident that he would have hit triple digits. The pack is getting the Warriors up the field; they just need the halves to do their part and create some scoring opportunities.
After a slow start, the Warriors got themselves back into the match; it is good to see that they can get themselves out of a hole. They just need to not dig that hole in the first place, and when they get themselves into a position to win matches, they need to nail it.
Although they weren't amazing, I was impressed with Harris-Tavita, Ash Taylor and Jesse Arthars.
Harris-Tavita looked more comfortable back in his familiar role as a half and showed more of his kicking game, including his 40/20. He still lacked some killing instinct and had some issues with his fifth tackle options, but he did enough to keep that spot in my eyes and should go to another level once he gets to partner Shaun Johnson.
Taylor, I thought was solid enough in his first game; he played a part in a handful of tries. He missed 11 tackles, however, which is a concern, but a half isn't paid to be a defensive powerhouse, and I think with a few matches under his belt, we will start to see his confidence grow, and he will be able to lead this side around the park until SJ returns.
Lastly, Arthars, I had picked him as my starting centre before the season started and his effort in this match made me confident of that selection; he looked sharp and hungry with the ball in hand and made some good defensive choices. He knows how to feed his outside man, and I think he would make a great team with Dallin Watane-Zelezniak; that centre spot is his now, and I don't see him giving it up anytime soon.
I did have concerns, however, which brings me to my negatives from the game.
Match Negatives
The Warriors are killing themselves with slow starts, the NRL is a tough competition, and you need to start every match with your head in the game. The Warriors showed that they can play catch up football, but if they started better, they would be able to put pressure on the opposition instead of putting pressure on my stress levels.The lack of execution is a massive concern; at times, it looked like the Warriors didn't know what to do with the ball and just threw it to Walsh in the hope that he could create something, but he can't do it all and is prone to making mistakes too. No hope kicks early in the tackle count; running the ball on the last are all coach killers, and they need to get this out of their game now.
For the second week in a row, the Warriors made 12 errors. Rinse and repeat of last week's game, they were dropping easy offloads, making wayward passes and losing the ball in the tackle. You just can't let the opposition off the hook with schoolboy errors. Fix that, and the Warriors instantly become a harder team to defeat.
The Warrior's discipline needs work; they gave away 7 penalties and 2 ruck infringements. Like the errors, you cannot afford to give your opposition a leg up. With the six again rule, if you are not up to scratch with your discipline, you are looking at energy-sapping defence for large spells; this leaves you with not much in the tank when you finally get your hands on the ball. It is an easy fix, at least, and I want to see a reduction in the penalty count straight away.
Lastly is missed tackles; the Warriors missed 36 this week. However, I am more concerned with the edge defence of the side. It has been an issue for years, but the Titans showed all clubs that if you want to score points against the Warriors, just throw a long pass out to your wingers, and they will have space to get to the line. The wingers need to have trust that their centre has their man and stop rushing in. It feels like they do this almost every time, and it needs to stop.
Warrior of the Match
My Warrior of the match goes to Josh Curran for the second week in a row, it was tighter this week with AFB almost getting the nod but I couldn't go past the heart Curran shows. He ran for 148 metres, led the side defensively with a game-high 44 tackles, and was constantly putting pressure on the Titan's kickers, resulting in another charge down. It is still early days in Curran's career but he continues to go from strength to strength, I just love watching him play for this club and if he keeps performing like this then rep honours are just around the corner.
Warrior to Improve
My Warrior to improve is Bayley Sironen, if I didn't watch the game multiple times before writing my reviews I may not have even noticed that he was on the pitch. When I checked the player stats, I was blown away that he played 29 minutes, and in that time, he made 18 tackles with only 1 miss, but he also only had 1 run for 2 running metres. I spoke in my season preview that the Warrior's second-row stocks are stacked, and I just can't see what Sironen is offering on game day, instead of having Mr Invisible out there I would rather have Ben Murdoch-Masila out on an edge for 20 minutes, or give Jack Murchie or Pride Petterson-Robati a chance to show what they can do. I suggested dropping Sironen last week and I am going to double down on that call this week.Next round thoughts and prediction
Round 3 sees the Warriors travel to Campbelltown Sports Stadium in Sydney to face the Tigers, who went down 26-4 to the Knights in Round 2. The Tigers looked strong in Round 1 but appear to be back to normal after their poor outing this weekend. The Warriors will need to improve their edge defence as Ken Maumalo and David Nofoaluma will be trouble.
The Warriors should field the same 17 this week with the exception of replacing Sironen with Ben Murdoch-Masila. Both sides are yet to record a win this season (alongside the Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles) and will be desperate to avoid going 0-3, If the Warriors improve their execution on attack, then the points will come, and they should find themselves in the winner's circle for the first time this season, so I am picking the Warriors to win by 12.
So that was a frustrating Round 2, and as usual, I will leave you with some questions.
Are there any changes you would make to the 17?
Who was your Warrior of the match?
Who was your player to improve?
What is your score prediction against the Tigers?
This post first appeared on Nz Warriors 2017 Season Preview : Above The Line - The Kearney Era Begins, please read the originial post: here
