The Warriors defeated the Broncos on Saturday, continuing a Broncos drought in New Zealand dating back to 2009.
The game won’t feature on many highlight reels; it was a typical winter’s night in Auckland, with two teams cancelling each other out for long periods.
The one takeaway from the game was that the New Zealand side showed they are the real deal.
The Warriors didn’t play very well in the first half, coughing up ball and lacking intensity. The period just before half time was crucial, as they managed to jump out to a 13–6 lead.
Winning ugly is something all good teams have the ability to do, and it appears the Warriors under Andrew McFadden are learning to do it. Grounding out results isn’t something the Warriors are famous for, but the stats indicate they finally get it.
There were only four line breaks for the Warriors, yet eight players ran for over 100 metres, and another three were close. This showed a true team effort at bringing the ball back. Conversely, the Broncos only had four in three figures and Dale Copley on 94 metres. Defence wins games, but getting good go forward is still key. Missed tackles were 22 to the Warriors and the Broncos 26, which showed the importance of quality metres being made.
Winning ugly is often illustrated by being beaten in most statistical categories except the scoreboard. As such, the Warriors made more errors and had a slightly inferior completion rate (70 per cent to 76 per cent). McFadden also conceded after the game that the Warriors kicking game was below average, their kicking metres were roughly 200 less than the Broncos, and some of the last tackle options left a lot to be desired.
The Broncos around Origin time can really suffer, however this was a game they really turned up for and they will be disappointed not to get the win. They will be confident of returning to winning ways next week against Cronulla, although based on current form, a drop goal may be enough to beat the Sharks.
The tries on Saturday night were well constructed; in particular Sebastian Ikahihifo has made giant strides this year and is making the 13 jersey his own. A good test for how far he has developed will be up against former teammate Elijah Taylor this Sunday.
The biggest disappoint for the Warriors continues to be Sam Tomkins. For a player reportedly one of the highest paid in the NRL, he hasn’t lived up to the hype. Prior to arriving, Tomkins was considered the ‘British Billy Slater’. So far he has been the British Greg Smith.
Tomkins’ handling has been average, and it may actually be that he needs to get his eyes looked at. It may sound strange, but he drops balls cold that should be caught and doesn’t always seem natural when he does. His tackling has been close to non-existent, and for the money he is paid, the one-on-one tackle against Ben Barba should have been made. Tomkins had two goes at it, and also the sideline to help him, but was left in Barba’s dust.
If the Warriors want to go deep into September football, Tomkins needs to start providing a better return on the investment made in him.
The one real low point was the tackle by Ngani Laumape. It was a dangerous tackle and deserved to be on report. However on the NRL sliding scale it wasn’t much worse than what Josh Reynolds successfully fought. The main difference seems to be Laumape isn’t playing Origin, and doesn’t play for a high-profile team. The Warriors have a poor record at the judiciary, and Laumape looks set for a stint on the sideline.
The Warriors beating the Broncos isn’t season defining, however it gets them back to a 50 per cent record, and with a favourable draw over the next few weeks, they should be able to set their season up for the finals.
Mervyn Cuthbert
Guest
Re the standard of Super League backs---4 were in the recent England Rugbyteam playing well against N.Z. Start with a 2nd ( & subsequently a 3rd) NRL FRANCHISE IN N.Z. This is quite feasible if planned & supported. Why? The rugby codes are in opposition & Australian rugby league fans need to see the obvious---Expansion & attracting new supporters is critical. A Singapore Super team is propsed with strong Pacific Islander participation. Sydney attitudes are harming our game & people with foresight are needed.
Kris
Guest
I agree with the forwards, the NRL made Burgess what he is today. If Burgess ever went back to SL he'd win the player of the year award straight up. If Graham went back he'd do the same. Just like when Morley went back and dominated, he's still playing these days too. I find it amazing how players 36-40 can play to their potential in Super League, just shows how much the gap between it and the NRL grows every year. If any of their best teams came over and played the best NRL team midway through the season, say after RD 20, then the NRL team would stick 40-50 on them easily, just like the Roosters who smashed Wigan at the start of the year even though they hadn't played together since the previous years grand final while Wigan were already 3 games into their season.
Sylvester
Guest
I didn't think the Warriors were that great and I'm yet to be convinced they are top 8 contenders. The loss against the Bunnies said more for me about where they're at than this game did. At home, they should have put this severely weakened team away but couldn't. The tries they scored were great, just too much average attack in between. Agree with comment upthread that the blowout losses have been sorted, which is great, but need to be more clinical. Getting there thoygh, NB: Tomkins looks at his most dangerous acting at half, so why not give him a shot at 6. Couldn't be worse than Townsend.
Cedric
Guest
not Locke,he's off to England and he did what Tomkins is doing now, alot of mistakes and missed tackles. Is there anyone one else, the Fish is injured, but if he can keep his head I think he will be good, big speed and can certainly attack, just the defence, I'm semi confident. I remember 1995 and we bought to pommie forwards, who were the worlds best. Yeah right, they were battlers, but that's it. Was it the guy who just got the sack who authorised Tomkins, if not someone else needs the sack. It's just like pulling someone from the outback and paying him mega bucks cause he's sooooo good, that's is reckless behaviour, I bet if it was that persons own money he wouldn't do it!!!! I thought the Rabbits was the Warriors defining game, now it is the panthers!!
Clark
Guest
I do agree that the Poms do rate their players incredibly highly. For me though I think it is more difficult for a back to come over to the NRL than a Forward because that is what the English do best, that is how they play. Tomkins has been great on attack when he injects himself in the backline, he has a great passing game (I believe he favours the number 6), his defense can improve on what he has shown so far. The Warriors haven't necessarily lost much by having Tomkins at the back (Speed maybe?)
Kris
Guest
Locke is to good to be playing in the Super League. Salford will win the English comp next year simply because of Locke. I mean look at Matt Bowen, he is struggling with injuries over there but he is averaging a try a game when he does play. He has already scored a couple of length of the field efforts this season.
Scrubbit
Guest
+1 My mates watched him play closely and said he's probably realised that the NRL is a whole different game to the super League. Give me Locke any day.
Kris
Guest
i didn't expect much from Tomkins. He's only rated by the poms which is typical because the poms always think their players are the best. He was a superstar in English Super League because the defense isn't even at QLD cup standard. England produce great forwards but not great backs.
Scrubbit
Guest
You play to win. Worries should've kept their tackles down.
Clark
Guest
The Rabbitohs diving every time they got touched didn't help either.
Scrubbit
Guest
It's the warriors effect. If they had beaten rabbits two weeks ago we would've heard the same thing, despite the number of injuries the rabbits suffered in that game though the worries were blown off the park. Worries are the ultimate pretenders.
PJC
Guest
Before the season started I responded to a story on the roar declaring the warriors premiership heavy weights after only beating the Broncos in a trial match. I made the point that the season hadn't even started yet and it was too early to declare the warriors premiership credentials. I coped some flak for that but I feel justified. Now the warriors beat a Broncos team missing key players who were injured or resting, plus they lost Gillet early in the first half and all of a sudden they're "flexing their premiership muscles". This is just another roar story that's pure nonsense.
Clark
Guest
I think if they make the 8, no matter where they finish (as long as they are in there), they will be a threat to make a deep run toward the grand final.
maximillian
Guest
1 thing I admire about McFadden & the Warriors is the gap between their best performance & worst performance seems to be closing. As a long time Wariors fan it was always hard to support a team that could win by 30 & then lose by 30 in the space of a week. Hopefully that consistency combined with "ugly" wins gets us to the finals again this year.
Scrubbit
Guest
You're kidding aren't you? Their were plenty of highlights in that game. At times it was played at a break neck speed. I can point to several matches in the last two weeks that have been far uglier than that. Origin 2 springs to mind.