Wests Tigers
22
Match Complete
New Zealand Warriors
30
| S. To'a |  | 77 | ||
| 77 |  | A. Pompey | ||
| 76 | | A. Fonua-Blake | ||
| 68 |  | S. Johnson | ||
| A. Koroisau | | 58 | ||
| D. Laurie | | 57 | ||
| 50 | | A. Pompey | ||
| 49 | | T. Harris | ||
| 32 | | D. Watene-Zelezniak | ||
| A. Koroisau | | 19 | ||
| L. Brooks | | 18 | ||
| A. Koroisau | | 17 | ||
| S. To'a | | 16 | ||
| 15 | | A. Pompey | ||
| 13 | | A. Pompey | ||
| 8 | | S. Johnson | ||
| 6 | | L. Metcalf |
| 4 | Tries | 5 | ||
| 3 | Conversions | 4 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 1 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Round 24 of the NRL premiership continues this afternoon when the Wests Tigers take on the New Zealand Warriors at FMG Stadium in Waikato. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:30pm (AEST).
The Warriors have been lucky in recent weeks. They almost blew a near-insurmountable lead at home to the Raiders, only to be saved by Jarrod Croker’s missed conversion. They stalled badly and nearly succumbed to the 12-man Titans last weekend, only to scrape home in the dying stages.
They’ve effectively been playing at home throughout, with an actual home game in Auckland, a vociferously pro-Warriors crowd at Robina and now, an ‘away’ game to the Tigers just down the road from home in Hamilton.
Which raises a few questions. Are niggling injuries and general fatigue starting to take a toll? Are internalised pressure and weight of external expectations weighing on the collective mind? Have teams started to figure the Warriors out? Would they be better served by a stroll or a genuine contest against the wooden-spooners-elect this evening?
A stroll is more likely given it’s the Tigers – they’re running last for several reasons. But they did fight hard in Canberra last Sunday and have shown few signs of throwing in the proverbial towel.
Tigers coach Tim Sheens and his charges have probably noticed that Shaun Johnson has been having a little more trouble finding his passing lanes lately, with opponents disrupting their inner edge play and Luke Metcalf not yet an effective secondary playmaker.
There’s a good chance the Tigers will get in the Warriors’ faces and jam their passing lanes, at least for a while, forcing Johnson, Wayde Egan and the edge back-rowers to problem-solve on the run. And the Tigers aren’t a bad team to do that against – they can present problems, just not very difficult ones, and the Warriors might find some more nuance and cohesion in the process.
In team news, the Warriors will be without Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad due to concussion protocols, with Taine Tuaupiki to start at fullback, while the Tigers welcome back Shawn Blore and representative prop Stefano Utoikamanu.
Prediction
There’ll be a lot of focus on the Warriors given they’re still chasing a top-two finish and are expected to win easily. But the Tigers aren’t irrelevant in this, and they’re likely to make the Warriors solve a problem or two. The Warriors will get home, though, it’s just a matter of by how much and in what manner? Warriors by 16
Game information
Venue: FMG Stadiumk, Waikato
Kick-off: 5:30pm (AEST)
TV: Fox Sports
Streaming: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Odds: Tigers $4.85 Warriors $1.18 – odds via PlayUp
Tigers: 1. Jahream Bula 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Starford To’a 4. Asu Kepaoa 5. Junior Tupou 6. Daine Laurie 7. Luke Brooks 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. David Klemmer 11. Isaiah Papali’i 12. John Bateman 13. Fonua Pole 14. Jake Simpkin 15. Alex Seyfarth 16. Alex Twal 17. Shawn Blore 18. Justin Matamua 19. Aitasi James 20. Triston Reilly 21. Josh Feledy 22. Kit Laulilii
Warriors: 1. Taine Tuaupiki 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Adam Pompey 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Luke Metcalf 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitchell Barnett 11. Jackson Ford 12. Marata Niukore 13. Tohu Harris 14. Dylan Walker 15. Jazz Tevaga 16. Bayley Sironen 17. Josh Curran 18. Freddy Lussick 20. Edward Kosi 21. Bunty Afoa 22. Viliami Vailea 23. Ronald Volkman
Panthers
Roar Rookie
If a team can play not that well sometimes, be missing a few players. Then still win those game. It’s all good! Others can ponder that perhaps they’re getting worse , or will struggle in future games. Yet, those few games when they didn’t play as well, really mean nothing.
Collie Flower
Roar Rookie
Thanks, David. Good on the Warriors for the tough win, but they will feel there's a lot of improvement needed. Well done to Wests Tigers for performance that challenged the Warriors, and for taking their home game to Hamilton - what a great crowd!
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hamilton?
Jokerman
Roar Guru
Technically it’s a home game to the Tigers but it’s played in the Waikato, NZ. I think the Tigers did it as a thank you for the Warriors commitment to the comp - staying in Australia during covid. The only club to do so (give their home game to the Warriors) Probably because Benji is there!
Jokerman
Roar Guru
Five in a row – sweet! Take it but very scrappy. Egan missed, so to was Nicoll-Klokstad. My view is Walker should be playing 6 ahead of Medcalf. I wonder if Walker’s confidence is dropping coming on as sub and he seems to be coming on later in the game spending only 20-25 minutes. Imagine the pressure SJ would feel if he had only 25 minutes to shine. It may work for a few games …this was against worst team at home, Warriors need to get better.
Muzz Manyana
Roar Rookie
Where were they playing? It looked like NZ.
77
Redcap
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME Thankyou everybody for joining the blog tonight. Have a lovely evening and please enjoy The Roar’s coverage of Easts vs Redcliffe with David Holden, who’s been running on the spot for the past couple of hours in preparation for the call. :stoked: Wests.............................22 NZ Warriors...................30
76
WithTheDawn
Roar Rookie
Yay 5 in a row. Didn’t enjoy much of that though.
Redcap
Roar Guru
80’ What a mad end to the game. Sironen is tackled on full time. The Warriors win. Wests.............................22 NZ Warriors...................30
Redcap
Roar Guru
80’ Bateman makes a break and Pole is inside attacking 30. Blore drifts right, looks to offload and loses the ball. The Warriors have it. Wests.............................22 NZ Warriors...................30
76
Redcap
Roar Guru
79’ Koroisau still needs to kick the goal, though. And he hits the post. The Warriors still lead by eight. NO GOAL. Wests.............................22 NZ Warriors...................30
Redcap
Roar Guru
78’ Blore makes a break and finds Laurie, Laurie finds To'a, and To'a scores. Hang on, this ain't over. TRY TIGERS. Wests.............................22 NZ Warriors...................30
WithTheDawn
Roar Rookie
Geez Tigers having the run tonight, far out…
Redcap
Roar Guru
78’ The Warriors look to close this one out and the Tigers looks to win the ball back from a short kick off, and they've got the ball back. I didn't think that went 10 metres. Wests.............................18 NZ Warriors...................30
WithTheDawn
Roar Rookie
I know the good teams can win ugly, but no need to do it every week lads…
Redcap
Roar Guru
78’ Easy conversion from Pompey. CONVERSION WARRIORS. Wests.............................18 NZ Warriors...................30
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Sheensy’s gonna be on the phone again this week.