Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Assemble At The Mt Smart Temple vs Titans
A special Anzac Day/Zae Wallace Shield fixture against Titans on Thursday afternoon gives New Zealand Warriors a swift opportunity to bounce back after the loss to Dragons. NZW are currently 10th on the ladder and no one should be assuming that last season's mahi will lead to automatic wins against teams who have been struggling in recent years.
Titans haven't won a game this season and NZW need to stack up wins to climb into the finals mix. NZW haven't shown genuine NRL championship contending footy this season and this includes mediocre outings at Mt Smart, but there is plenty of time to build towards that upper echelon. Right now, it's all about winning footy games.
NZW were unable to roll through their attacking flow against Dragons and while there were sloppy errors, clunky motions and a lack of zip, Dragons showed the effort required to stifle NZW attack. Dragons did well to work together in the defensive line, especially around the ruck where NZW attack with different angles and shape.
First we have Wayde Egan scooting out of dummy half because Dragons have one marker (#10). The player at marker moves straight back (yellow dots) to close space and link up with his fellow defenders, shutting down Egan's burst...
Next is Roger Tuivasa-Sheck taking a run on the left, angling back behind the ruck where his footwork can be a nightmare for defenders chasing across field. The two Dragons defenders around the yellow dots move across together, limiting space for Tuivasa-Sheck to attack...
Then we have NZW shifting to the right edge. The shape and quick hands puts Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in space, but Dragons are tracking across to ensure that the overlap leads to nothing...
NZW have rolled out this play a few times where the ball goes one pass out from the ruck, then Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad gets the footy cutting back to the middle behind a decoy. In this instance the ball goes to Shaun Johnson on the right, he passes behind Tohu Harris and Dragons work hard to shut down space in front of Nicoll-Klokstad...
Dragons snuffed out NZW attack because they worked together and were prepared for NZW attacking motions, specifically those that target space around the ruck. Dragons also had more oomph and energy through the injections of Jack De Belin and Blake Lawrie after 20 minutes.
The Dragons bench played 124mins with all four players getting 10+ minutes. The NZW bench combined for 59mins and two played less than 10mins, with Tom Ale the only NZW bench player rolling through the middle. Different teams have different styles and coach Andrew Webster tends to give his starting middle forwards big minutes, although a few losses this season have featured a lack of hard-running bodies who add impact off the bench.
Consider this an alternative to the 'next man up' line of thinking which is usually mentioned in terms of the next man up in the squad doing the job. Tweak it a little bit and simplify the concept; who is the next man up running the footy?
With a bench full of eager lads fizzed up to make an impact, Dragons always had powerful runners ready as the next man up for a carry. NZW had tired lads as a next man up and after tackling these lads for 50-60mins, Dragons were comfy in their ability to contain the NZW runners. This is likely to change for the encounter with Titans as Dylan Walker returns and Zyon Maiu'u is named to make his debut, both are likely to play in the middle with Tom Ale.
Suddenly, NZW have three lads who can add their energy to the middle instead of just Ale. Each of these lads is slightly different as well with Walker offering speed and skill, Ale's got powerful footwork and Maiu'u ... well The Niche Cache has stated many times that Maiu'u will be a fan favourite as soon as he takes a run at Mt Smart.
Maiu'u is brutal and that went wonky for his Pre-Season Challenge suspension, but that's precisely what NZW need for impact coming off the bench. NZW had a win over Dragons in NSW Cup last week and Maiu'u had 10 runs - 106m @ 10.6m/run with 12 tackles @ 100%. Maiu'u is unlikely to get 10 runs in his NRL debut but he could hit the 10m/run mark and his performance will be all about efficiency in limited minutes.
Right now, Maiu'u is better suited to this role than Tanner Stowers-Smith. Maiu'u provides chaotic energy and NZW need a dash of ahi to spice things up. Stowers-Smith is brewing nicely in NSW Cup and he could make his NRL debut this year, but he forecasts as someone who can control the middle rather than explode through the middle. Stash this one away; the best comparison for Stowers-Smith is James Fisher-Harris.
And there are plenty more middle forwards in the pipeline. Harry Durbin continues his rise up from Jersey Flegg and is named at prop to replace Maiu'u in NSW Cup. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava has mainly played edge forward this season and he could build towards an NRL bench role over the next 18 months. Leka Halasima is an immense talent who is still out (probably suspended) while Kayliss Fatialofa is named for another NSW Cup game after starting this year in Under 19 SG Ball.
One quirky note to ponder is that Ali Leiataua and Demitric Sifakula made their NRL debuts last year but they haven't played NRL this year, while Laban and Maiu'u get debuts. Sifakula's return is highly anticipated considering his ability to cover middle and edge which could be an asset on the bench.
Another development aside from Sio Kali shining in NSW Cup at centre, is Luke Hanson settling in NSW Cup. Hanson moved from Panthers to NZW over the summer and started this year in the halves for Jersey Flegg before playing NSW Cup last weekend. Hanson was listed as playing in the Jersey Flegg game vs Dragons as well as 80mins of NSW Cup afterwards and this followed a few weeks in which NZW had various halves combinations.
Dummy half depth continues to command attention as well. Paul Roache was part of the NSW Cup halves mixer but was predominantly playing at hooker before Jacob Auloa graduated from U19 SG Ball to the starting hooker role in NSW Cup. Now Makaia Tafua is named at hooker in NSW Cup as Auloa may be injured, with Jeriko Filipi-Talisau getting the starting dummy half role in U21 Jersey Flegg.
All of this may change later in the week and Etuate Fukofuka is in this equation, but Fukofuka is also getting game time as a small forward. All these dummy half options are U21 eligible with Auloa and Filipi-Talisau playing U19 SG Ball this year. Tafua is a funky lad to keep tabs on as he is a Linwood junior from Christchurch who played SG Ball last year and when not involved in NZW footy (NSW Cup or Jersey Flegg), Tafua has been playing for Otahuhu in Auckland's Fox Memorial.
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