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What were the Warriors thinking against Melbourne last night?
I can’t believe that after pushing the envelope so hard and so often to put themselves in with a great chance of winning the match, they sealed it with a kiss and handed it over to Melbourne by taking a shot at goal when they received a penalty near the opposition line in the 65th minute.
They kicked it, giving them a two-point lead, but what good was that?
It wasn’t going to change the way the Storm were playing. They were going to be looking for a try, just like they were at 16-all, and they still had plenty of time in which to get one.
Had the Warriors taken a tap instead they may have scored a try which, particularly if converted, would have put them in a much stronger position.
Even if Melbourne came back with a try themselves under those circumstances, the game would have been no worse than locked up entering the final stages.
A two-point deficit wasn’t going to worry the Storm with so much time left on the clock. They were always likely to come back and score themselves – because they’re the Storm.
And there was no guarantee the Warriors were going to get another opportunity to attack the Storm from such close range.
I just though the decision was crucial, and flew in the face of everything else the Warriors had done in the match.
The Warriors had done well to put themselves in the game. They obviously had a plan to attack out of their own end, and to get the ball on the outside of the Melbourne defence as a priority.
The Storm defend so well that if you’re going to pull that off you’ve pretty much got to finish a sharp passing movement by getting the ball to the winger at speed, but the Warriors did that often enough.
They inevitably made mistakes that put them under pressure but they were obviously of the belief that if they were going to win, their best chance wasn’t to just get in the grind with Melbourne and hope for the best.
The Warriors had to force the issue, and they did that well.
Even though the Warriors lost in the end, other teams should take note of the way they played last night.
Not every team is equipped to play the way they did, and may not feel comfortable doing it that way anyway, but they have got to start coming up with something different against Melbourne.
You’re not going to beat them by getting in the grind with them and hoping for the best. They are too good at it.
The try the Storm scored to get back in front included an obviously forward pass that should have been pulled up, but that is beside the point.
The point is that you can’t play safe against them and hope to get away with it. That is a formula for losing.
It just seemed incongruous that the Warriors would suddenly take that route after getting a positive return from having taken another one for so long in the game.
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