New Zealand Warriors repeating history in 2012?
Roar Guru By Curtis Woodward, 11 Jul 2012 Curtis Woodward is a Roar Guru & Live Blogger
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The New Zealand Warriors took the NRL by surprise in 2011 with an impressive run to the playoffs that saw them eventually go down to the Manly Sea Eagles in the grand final.
It was around this time last year that the Warriors clicked into gear and proved the experts wrong. Shaun Johnson became a superstar and the Auckland based club were on their way.
Forget the age of the team. Forget the inconsistency that has riddled their 2012 campaign. It is the business end of the season, forget everything you think you know. These young Warriors are once again set to make a run at the NRL finals series.
June last year was a horror period for the club. The Warriors dropped four consecutive matches in the month and were languishing after losses to the Sydney Roosters, Wests Tigers, North Queensland Cowboys and Melbourne Storm.
Round 18 and a new month saw New Zealand completely outplay the Gold Coast Titans 22-6. They would then only drop three more games on their way to the decider.
This year, in the corresponding round last weekend, the Warriors again put the cleaners through the Titans.
Is history repeating?
If Brian McClennan’s men beat the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Friday, you can be assured that the clubs ahead of them on the table will be looking over their shoulder.
With three wins in their last four, the Warriors are now the second most dangerous attacking side in the NRL. Their 388 points for the year is only bettered by the Storm with 400.
And we now know that morbidly safe offence cant win you the Telstra premiership. Its all about flair, imagination and having the testicular fortitude to try things. The Warriors tick all these boxes.
Make no mistake about it. This is a better Warriors side than the one that pushed the Sea Eagles all the way in the big one last year.
They have also unleashed another boom rookie in the shape of giant centre Konrad Hurrell. At 6’0 and 105 kilograms, the softly spoken Tongan could be the wrecking ball that lifts the Warriors to the upper echelons of the NRL.
On Saturday night, Hurrell was unstoppable and completely outplayed Jamal Idris. His three tries against the Gold Coast takes his season tally to 12 and sits only three tries behind Ashley Graham.
“Off the top of my head I can’t recall someone that’s come from union as a young kid and take to the game so quickly,” coach McClennan told AAP.
“I have seen some young guys that have come from (junior) league and just go bang and excel. Kevin Iro was like that. I’ve seen that happen but not from union to league.”
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July 11th 2012 @ 11:40am
DamoS said | July 11th 2012 @ 11:40am | Report comment
Great read. The Warriors do normally click into gear around this time however with wins against an under strength Cowboys and Titans I’m not thoroughly convinced they’ll be the Broncos this weekend however I hope they do.
They have seemed to play underpar this year and hopefully all these issues have been ironed out in the lead in to the finals.
Are you basing your comment that this is a better team on the fact they were in the GF last year or their team has a few guys with flair and therefore unpredictable to play against.
July 11th 2012 @ 12:37pm
Curtis Woodward said | July 11th 2012 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
They had flair last year too .. just think they are a better side
July 11th 2012 @ 11:54am
Will Sinclair said | July 11th 2012 @ 11:54am | Report comment
They’ve certainly benefited from the Origin period.
Their last five weeks -
– Beat Penrith without their Origin players,
– Lost to Cronulla;
– Bye;
– Beat North QLD without their Origin players; and
– Beat Gold Coast without their Origin players.
Eight points in five weeks without having to beat a team at full strength. Any team in the comp would love a run like that.
Just another argument for stand alone Origin weekends.
July 11th 2012 @ 12:39pm
Curtis Woodward said | July 11th 2012 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
True .. but you still need to win the games
July 11th 2012 @ 10:00pm
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | July 11th 2012 @ 10:00pm | Report comment
Cowboys lost their halfback, Ray Thompson, to a shoulder injury during the first half of that game.
Cowboys were on a roll, trailing by just four, when a poor refereeing decision changed the match. A Warriors player lost the ball cold inside his own 30 metres on the forth tackle. The silly ref penalised the Cowboys for a strip. The replay showed the Warrior player lost it cold. The Warriors got three repeat sets on the back of that penalty.
The amount of defence the Cowboys had to perform, with a 3 man bench, was too much in the end. The NRL robbed the Cowboys of the opportunity to win that match. Cowboys should receive compensation from the NRL.
July 11th 2012 @ 1:06pm
Pogo said | July 11th 2012 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
Repeating last year? Too early to say, as Will Sinclair says they have benefited from origin (although I suspect he still has an axe to grind over the tigers missing out last year).
Agree that they are stronger in many areas this year but they do perhaps lack a bit of experience. Losing Maloney next year could hurt.
July 11th 2012 @ 1:09pm
Curtis Woodward said | July 11th 2012 @ 1:09pm | Report comment
Will see if they can beat the Broncos on Friday first
July 11th 2012 @ 2:42pm
Will Sinclair said | July 11th 2012 @ 2:42pm | Report comment
Yep – still dirty about that.
Safe to say Mr K Inu received some verbal encouragement on Friday night as a reward for his dodgy late try in the semi final last year.
July 11th 2012 @ 1:29pm
The Barry said | July 11th 2012 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
Not convinced yet. You’re right Curtis the Broncos game will be a big test for them.
Didn’t the Broncos flog them in week one of the semis last year ? 40 to not many ? They don’t necessarily have to win but would want a strong showing. I know Will Sinclair was dirty when they beat the Tigers the following week.
On their day if they get it right they’ll beat anyone and are more than capable of going on a run to the GF again. There needs to be a fair alignment of the planets again.
July 11th 2012 @ 2:03pm
Redback said | July 11th 2012 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
Don’t think so the warriors always look good around state of origin time they will start losing games again. The warriors next year will be weaker without Maloney next year.
July 11th 2012 @ 2:06pm
Curtis Woodward said | July 11th 2012 @ 2:06pm | Report comment
Not disputing that .. one club is going to go on a run though, who else is it going to be?
July 11th 2012 @ 7:33pm
Kuruki said | July 11th 2012 @ 7:33pm | Report comment
Look the Warriors replace Hurrel with Vatuvei and then will field the both of them next week. When the Warriors find form you better be ready to score more points then they will and they will score plenty. Johnson and Locke have been quietly going about their business once Locke recovers from his niggles i think the attack will start to flow from everywhere. They are heading top 4, they just have to much strike power not to.
July 11th 2012 @ 9:46pm
Sylvester said | July 11th 2012 @ 9:46pm | Report comment
I’ve got a feeling their defence woes will continue and be too great to overcome this year. Pains me to say, but that left side is a constant disaster waiting to happen.
July 12th 2012 @ 1:13pm
Spiritfree said | July 12th 2012 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
The is true. Friday will be very telling. Manu’s had a few weeks off, perhaps he really needed that after his error-ridden games. If he comes through this game error-free and there aren’t any howlers elsewhere on the field, then watch out Broncs!
July 12th 2012 @ 6:49pm
Spiritfree said | July 12th 2012 @ 6:49pm | Report comment
Ben Ikin: “The Warriors boast what I believe to be the strongest roster in the NRL….”
An interesting read on http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/ikins-picks-for-the-finals-series-20120710-21st5.html