The new look Vulcans

The NSW Cup feeder team for the NRL Warriors has been taken over and rebranded by their first grade counterparts. The Vulcans have been replaced by the NSW Cup team known as the NZ Warriors. It's all part of the branding of the club trying to establish itself for the future. It gives a clearer path of development for aspiring league players from the Under 20's to NSW Cup to NRL all donning the same Warriors colours and name. This is all good, but as fans we all just want that win at the end of the day. Now that's been taken care of, we can get into the first round of the NSW Cup which went down on Saturday.

The Warriors took on the Wentworthville Magpies (Eels feeder club) over the weekend at Belmore Sports Ground and despite hopes of victory in their first NSW cup game as the NZ Warriors, they fell short 24 - 38.

In traditional Warriors fashion they let the opposition out to an early lead, trailing 16 - 0 within the first 10 minutes. Things looked grim for the Warriors at this stage with NRL experienced Magpies playmaker, Chris Sandow looked ready to put the game out of reach.

Chris Sandow was a star for Wentworthville

However, before the game got out of hand, the Warriors opened their scoring through Ben Henry who played his first game after returning from a lengthy injury. His effort was followed up by Raymond Faitala-Mariner on the back of some nifty show and go work to bring the game to a more respectable 10 - 16 before half time.

But you know the Warriors.

And in typical Warriors fashion they let in tries just before and after the halftime break blowing the score out to 26 - 10 after 40 minutes of play.

After the break a determined Konrad Hurrell turned up to play and had a few good runs in the middle of the park putting the Warriors on the front foot. This eventually led to winger Jarrod Wilson picking up a double within a few minutes leaving them down 20 - 26 after Tui Lolohea managed to slot one of the sideline conversions.

With 14 minutes left on the clock David Fusitua scored as close to the sticks as he could. However, Lolohea couldn't convert the try leaving them an agonizing 2 points behind at 24-26. The desperation on offense and defense was admirable by both sides, but the Warriors were unable to score again and annoyingly let in another 2 tries before the 80 minutes.

It's still early days though, and the squad are still working out their combinations with an interesting mix of youth from the Under 20s and experience from both the NRL and the prior Vulcan. There's still a lot to look forward to this season for the NZ Warriors NSW Cup squad.

They are televising a lot more of the Warriors NSW Cup games this season, so check TV listings for the time and dates they're airing.

Jones' Junior Warriors

Warriors and Kiwis legend Stacey Jones is the new coach of the Warriors Under 20's team and was humbled with a 24 - 50 loss to the Eels despite a heroic 2nd half comeback attempt. They definitely were missing the experience of still NYC eligible players such as Tui Lolohea, Solomone Kata, David Fusitua and Sam Lisone who are being tested against men in the NSW Cup. It's only the first round though, they have a new coach, debuted 8 players and had only 2 players with more than 20 games experience in the NYC.

The Juniors Warriors, much like their NSW namesakes found themselves down 16 nil after a short while. They hit back with a try and conversion but in typical Warriors fashion lapses either side of half time inflated the score to 6 - 28.

But you know a Warriors side.

After returning to the field after half time they dotted down 3 unanswered and converted tries scaring Parramatta with a 24-28 scoreline. The 3 tries were scored by debutants Brad Abbey and Toafofoa Sipley both products of the renowned St. Pauls College in Auckland. Unfortunately that's where it all ended for the Junior Warriors leaking in a disappointing 22 more points to lose the game by 26.

Despite the lost there are definitely some good signs for the Juniors Warriors and the future of the club. They have a chance to show off their stuff this Saturday at Eden Park against the Dragons NYC side who are coming off a convincing 32-point win over the Tigers in Round One.