Diary of A Warriors Fan - Showing Off For The Aunties
It's a pity that it takes aunties being in attendance for the Warriors to step it up. It's a pity, but the aunties definitely got their money's worth as the Warriors put in arguably their best performance of the year in defeating the Gold Coast Titans 36-14.
Heading to the GC after two losses to two of the NRL's top dogs, the Warriors needed a solid showing. It wasn't perfect, but it was much closer to perfect than what we've seen from the Warriors all season. You'd have to imagine that Andrew McFadden was dealing out high fives all round the coaches box, the players put in the sort of effort that fans and many coaches who have come and gone, have been gasping for.
We know that they are capable of dazzling performances, that's been all too familiar. So far this season though, we haven't seen a controlled performance where the whole team are singing from the same song sheet and are chipping in combining their physical talents with the right mentality and effort.
I've seen the word composure been used to describe the win, sure, they were composed, but composure comes from being in control. The Warriors controlled this game.
A microcosm of all of the above was Shaun Johnson. You'll hear about his step and his speed which we were graced with but both Johnson and Chad Townsend had their hands in everything. They showed variety with their kicking games showcasing a range of kicks which resulted in six goal line dropouts and with the Titans making almost a hundred more tackles than the Warriors. It's funny what a few dribbles into the in-goal area or kicks into the corner can do huh?
More impressive than their kicking games was their intent to run which came very early on in the game and they not only ran because an opportunity popped up, but they also took a few tough carries. Townsend ran the ball eight times for 83 metres and even notched a few tackle breaks, while Johnson only ran four times but two of those runs resulted in tries.
I called on the halves to win the game for the Warriors and they put in the sort of all round performance that could provide a nice platform to build on.
A question that I've been pondering - does Sam Tomkins make the Warriors this much better?
Tomkins was classy and I'm sure his presence help Johnson and Townsend in the halves, but the improvement here didn't really involve Tomkins. The Warriors were much improved in those cliched 1%ers - effort, line speed, aggression, supporting the ball carrier - they just looked like a clinical NRL side.
If Tomkins' influence is responsible for that then fair play, he's well worth the pay packed, if Tomkins can make everyone else rip in and look like certified NRL players, fair play. But it seemed like a conscious team effort to show that they can do those little things that when they come together equal a tough team to beat.
We saw a slightly new effort, but I also loved the creativity in attack. I've been critical of McFadden because he's appeared to be set in playing structured footy that doesn't really allow the Warriors much room to trouble defences but this week we saw a very nice balance. Maybe this is what he's been wanting all along, but it did look like a few tweaks had been made.
I also noticed Simon Mannering have a far greater role in attack, thanks largely to being used as a slick passer. It must be his rugby background because he's got a nice left to right spiral pass that was with Mannering slotting into first receiver and then hitting a half two passes wide. It's a nice play when it's going half to half, but with Mannering there the other half can set up either on the blindside or way out wide, offering a distraction or some funky creativity.
Mannering's becoming a top tier NRL lock with his ability to do his core role in making metres and tackling his heart out (he had 130 metres and 31 tackles) but he loves an offload and now has the passing string to his bow as well. If you didn't love him before, start, now.
If you didn't love Ben Matulino, you might have missed the boat. He was once again one of the best on the field with 205 metres @ an average of 10.25 metres per carry and also managed his mandatory offloads with three. He's a beast and has been all season.
Usually this season the Warriors have seen their outside backs do plenty of the work through the middle, but seeing both Matulino and Jacob Lillyman passing that 200 metre mark is special. I'm not sure if we'll see it continue but if they can somehow each hover around the 150 metre mark, we'll be laughing.
Ummmmmm and if Nathan Friend can hover around the 100 metre mark, we'll be winning a Premiership. Friendy deserves to be snapped up for another year and he showed how beneficial a dummy half who is eager to scoot can be. Whether he's instigating the go forward or whether he's getting on the back of quickies, it's great to see a Warriors hooker run the fucking footy!
It was a bit of a coming of age for Charlie Gubb and Raymond Faitala-Mariner with each of these lads stepping up and showing that they can kick it at this level. This wasn't the hardest test, but they were better than they have been previously and if RFM can churn out some consistent footy, we might see an end to the 80 minute back rowers.
Gubb has the opportunity to be our grub; Grubby Gubby.
We need it, he's a lump of a lad but not the biggest which is fine because it's his mongrel that we need. There's no one else in this team who is going to set the tone with aggression, a bit of niggle and just ruffling feathers, but Gubb could make that his niche. I look forward to it.
Does anyone else wince when Ken Maumalo hits 5th gear just before the kick chasers? Brutal, I'd rather have Maumalo like that than Jason Nightingale.
I loved this win, it wasn't overly flashy which has been the case in the past - a dazzling win to get everyone excited. Nah, this was just a fine rugby league performance in all departments.
But we've been here before and after every win I think it's important to point out how necessary it is to repeat the dose nek week.