Diary Of A Warriors Fan - Steady As She Goes
2/3 isn't a bad way to start the season for the Warriors is it? Against the Parramatta Eels the Warriors still looked like they have a long way to go but two points are in the bag and that's the major factor here.
Usually it feels like the Warriors are chasing the season. They're always trying to scrape into the top eight late in the season but getting a few early wins under their belt against teams that you'd back them to beat should put a smile on everyone's dial. Whether the injuries wipe that smile of ya face or simply make it stretch depends on your perception because a win like this in another game where the back line had to be reshuffled can make things a bit tricky, but it shows that they're getting the job done.
For me, loosing Sam Tomkins to a knee injury did have an impact on their second half performance because it once again saw Ben Henry shifted to centre. He's far too slow for the centres, but in saying that, having him there meant that the damage was limited. I've said my bit about Benry, so I won't dive too deep into that again but hopefully the time will come when someone is putting bunch of pressure on him to perform.
Tomkins. It's a similar case as Konrad Hurrell's, he's only good when he's on the park and there's many saying how much better the Warriors are with Tomkins on the field, but the backup plan of Tui Lolohea is also pretty handy. Given that it's early days and Tomkins is already dealing with injuries, we need to look at him as a bonus. A very expensive bonus.
Chad Townsend was great for mine and this Warriors side is showing that there's a few different dimensions to their play. Many people look at this side as the Tomkins and Shaun Johnson show, but there's so much more to this team and it's great to see. Townsend had a big impact on the game with a few nice kicks, three tackle breaks, a line break and an all round game which is great for the whole team.
I've said for a while that we need to chill on our expectations on Johnson, but we can only really do that if Townsend's stepping up. Johnson's saying that he's still working on his game and I'm just happy that we have a two pronged attack in the halves as opposed to Johnson being relied on to do everything.
Andrew McFadden was asked after the game about the set up of his halves with Townsend parked on the left and Johnson on the right. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the plan to get them settled into the season, keeping the game plan and system pretty simple to get off to a good start. I reckon once they find their feet, the halves will be given a bit more freedom but for now, this will do.
It'll do for now because we have other trump cards that we can play.
Manu Vatuvei is in career best form, much to the delight of the Niche Cache and he's getting involved everywhere. Manu's not parked on his wing nor his he only taking a few early hit ups, he's sniffing around the middle and looks eager to make an impact on the game, it's beautiful. At this stage, he's a forward and a wing so I'm not sure what more we could really want.
The most pleasing factor is the amount of guys who are performing well, resulting in a wholesome team effort. In the past we've been guilty of relying on one guy, which has recently been Johnson to get us out of trouble time and time again. That's no longer the case with Townsend, Manu, Solomone Kata, Ben Matulino, Ryan Hoffman, Thomas Leuluai, Simon Mannering and Tui Lolohea all putting in good shifts.
I love it and we're winning games early in the season which is fabulous, all you gotta do is win.
Obviously there's plenty to work on still with the right edge suffering badly as the Eels fought back. Benry missed two tackles while Johnson missed three, with Manu Ma'u being his beastly self down that edge for the Eels.
The general cohesion across the park and the elusive 80 minute performance are still to be grasped at as well. Not too bothered though, the Eels did well to not lie down and I've seen many games where the Warriors have lost from that point.
I don't think we've seen things pan out how Coach McFadden wants just yet, not in terms of performance just his rotations with injuries taking their toll. That's why it's great to have two wins on the board, I can't repeat this enough, they did what needed to be done to win.
I'd love to see Tui Lolohea get the nod at fullback next week. There's no real need to rush Tomkins with a bung knee, Lolohea's good enough to do the job and most importantly the team as a whole are good enough to fill that void.
The Broncos offer a very interesting challenge this Sunday. Their forward pack won't crumble like the Eels did up the guts and it's going to be a bit of a war in the trenches. The perfect test for the Warriors and if they can continue to work hard through the middle, serve up a few off loads and hold their own, they'll be hard to stop out wider.