Warriors coach Nathan Brown has refused to blame recruit Chad Townsend for his team’s late capitulation as St George Illawarra snatched a golden-point victory in their Friday night clash.
The Warriors were up 18-10 with six minutes remaining at Central Coast Stadium when Townsend, in his first match since his mid-season switch from Cronulla, bizarrely attempted a field goal.
The ball went dead, with the Dragons using a seven-tackle set to score through Jack Bird and swing momentum all their way before a Corey Norman field goal sealed the deal.
Brown revealed post-match that Townsend thought his team were only up by six.
It was a tough night for the halfback who injured his shoulder in a heavy tackle by Tariq Sims in just the second minute.
Brown said Townsend required treatment at halftime to continue, putting him in danger of missing next round’s clash against his old club.
“It’s not great… he had plenty of needles at halftime to get him through the game and he did really well to push through the game and kick well for us,” Brown said
(Tony Feder/Getty Images)
“He really contributed great to us getting to that point in the game.”
The coach felt there were plenty of factors other than Townsend that led to the shock loss.
“He’s a good experienced player and we saw how in the first 70 minutes why we brought him here,” he said.
“We played one of our better-controlled games and kicked the ball better and he freed up Sean Sullivan as a younger half to have less pressure on him.”
He said there was an undesirable pattern with his team to lose a match after being in a winning position.
“We found ourselves in situation that we’ve been in many times this season when we’ve been in a strong position and it’s not a fluke,” Brown said.
“All we can do is keep practising situations at training and keep working hard to manage those parts of the game better.”
Meanwhile, Warriors lock Tohu Harris suffered a head knock and also hurt his shoulder and second-rower Eli Katoa limped off.
For the Dragons, lock Jack de Belin was twice placed on report – for a cannonball tackle and then a lifting tackle.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
I’m quite shocked how so many Roarers are critecising Chad for his performance.Given its his first game ,after having one or two training runs with a new team. Sure he’s an experienced NRL player, but he’s no Superman.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
To me the Warriors lost the match when RTS was trapped in goal on the 2nd tackle and had to give another six to the Drags - who went on to score.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Agree with the Sharks fan they needed to hold possession in that end of the field play slowly and wind the clock down far more than the one point. Should have had an on field HIA straight after that.
WA Sharks Fan
Roar Rookie
No he didn’t, I’ll definitely concede that point, but he did give away the momentum over the last 5-6 mins of the match to allow the dragons back into the game on a low benefit, high consequence play.
WA Sharks Fan
Roar Rookie
Bad management because it was a low benefit, high consequence play. He missed the shot which was only going to take them from an 8 point lead to a 9 point lead (ie still only likely 2 scoring plays) and therefore no difference to that lead with 6 mins out from full time. High consequence as he gave away a 7 tackle set from their 20m restart but more importantly gave the Dragons moment. He would have been better to try for a “3 score” lead (or at least a 2 converted try which keeps pressure on the kicker to convert both tries if scored), a repeat set (although unlikely from where he was) or give them the ball back 5-10m out with a 6 tackle set. That is the high percentage play and what I think you would have seen from one of the top teams (Storm, Panthers, Rabbits, Eels, Roosters). You can come back and say, but the 1 point means an end result of 19-18 Warriors win (as some have suggested) however as the game would have restarted from a kick off, ANYTHING could’ve happened from there as you reset from a different play. At the end of the day the Dragons may still have won but the high percentage/ benefit at 8 points up with 6 to go is to try and push the score out to a “3 scoring play” lead for the opposition or keeping the play down your attacking end. Chad’s decision to play for the field goal IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE, was the wrong option and poor game management. Otherwise he was a decent addition for the Warriors.
Albo
Roar Rookie
The Warriors lost Toho Harris after 20 minutes and Katoa for a period in that 2nd half. That was the main reason they didn't hang on to win. Townsend just had another typical mixed bag as we have seen for years. "Rocks & diamonds" come to mind and it is no surprise the Sharks were OK with him moving on straight away !
Wait a minute!
Guest
Just a point of interest. Earlier in the second half. The Warriors were up near the St.George try line. In front of the posts . Townsend gets the ball a little wider & decided to do a chip kick. Hunt caught it easily, in between his own goal post & still in the field of play & St.George then get a play the ball penalty. So no grubbing kick into the in goal to keep St.George there ? Or, a field goal from near the posts to further dispirit St.George. They would have thrown it in at 13 points down.
Sorry but if he kicks it it wins the game. How is that bad game management? Bad execution for sure but not bad game management at all.
, that 1 point meant nothing in the overall context of the game. If he gets it the Warriors win no matter whether you think so or not. Saints got 18 points in regular time and if that goes over Warriors have 19 in regular time.
Nat
Roar Guru
It was an absolute brain far-t. He didn't miss every tackle to let in the 3 tries but it was a catalyst moment.
WA Sharks Fan
Roar Rookie
Isn’t that bad game management then? He had time to reflect on the score board when the dragons went to 10-18. A senior player, playing in the spine, who is responsible for game management SHOULD know what the score is. Could it be an “after the fact” excuse to deflect attention?
Nat
Roar Guru
Chad has already confessed he thought the team was up by 6 not 8. However, if he nails the FG, Warriors get the ball back from the kickoff and it's a whole different finish.
WA Sharks Fan
Roar Rookie
Maybe, but the fact is, that 1 point meant nothing in the overall context of the game. Had CT played the percentages and rolled the ball in for a repeat set, or ran it into the corner so the dragons had to restart from 5 out tackle 1 or bombed for a 6 tackle set instead of a 7 tackle set restart at the 20, we would be talking about a Warriors win and a gutsy performance given his should injury early in the game. However he chose a low percentage “result” play (ie 1 point to go to a 9 point lead is redundant) and then blew the relatively easy shot from 20-25m out just off centre. That play changed the rest of the match (“sliding doors”) by giving away a 7 tackle restart from the 20 and giving the dragons all momentum. They then capitalised and scored which changed the last 6 mins of the game in reg time. No matter what Brown says publicly, he would be fuming behind closed doors and would put the loss down to that 1 momentum shifting play.
What they all fail to say whilst the criticisum is flowing is that if Chad had kicked that field goal the Warriors would have won by 1 point in normal time. To rubbish Chad for having a shot is just stupid when if successful it wins the game.
Phantom
Roar Rookie
Games like this reinforce how difficult it is to be a warriors supporter.
Nat
Roar Guru
He may not blame him but if Kodi is available, Chad's shoulder may need a rest. Chad is just having a horrible run lately and while never a superstar he was safe as a bank for consistently. I hope he can find his form again and not drift off into a NQ retirement.
Tony
Roar Guru
Yes Andrew, they need Lomax back ASAP
andrew
Roar Rookie
Didn't see the game Tony. Just watched the highlights, some pretty soft tries and Saints should invest in a new goal kicker. Didn't Townsend kick that winning field goal against Saints for Cronulla a while back? Well like i said, what goes around comes around.
Tony
Roar Guru
Looks like everyone is out of step except Brownie