A crisp Sunday afternoon at Mt Smart and a win, what more do you wish for on a Sunday?

Well I'm hoping for a bigger wagon because I can feel this one creaking, the wheels are getting wobbly with all this weight, I can feel those half-ass fans jumping aboard.

Haere mai! We always welcome you lot, you're more than welcome to get in behind the Warriors who once again beat the Melbourne Storm, if we've got our hands in a hoodoo of some description, this is it because for whatever reason the Storm always struggle against the Warriors.

Always, not always, sometimes they're at their Storm-peak which is too good for the Warriors, but sometimes we're at our peak. Our peak where we are offloading like it's nobody's business, making tackles and showing up time and time again on our try line, where we are showing patience and maturity with our kicking game and where we are winning games despite having less ball, more errors and making more tackles.

Stats-wise, everything was pretty even besides the tackle busts, which coincides with the biggest issue for the Warriors from this game. After a strong showing in the first half, our lads suffered what has become a mandatory lapse, allowing the Storm back in the game and while the Warriors played with freedom, popping offloads out all over, the Storm leveled that count and a few others in the period after half time.

No need to worry though, the Storm are a good team and the time was going to come where they enjoyed some quality possession and while our defence was pretty damn fine, to expect the Warriors to defend that well for 80 minutes is a bit dumb. We'll get there though.

We continue to see Shaun Johnson and Chad Townsend show some class with their kicking games and one play really stood out for me which epitomises our halves. Darryl Halligan got quite excited when Johnson put up a raking bomb down the short side after the first receiver on the open side (I think it was Sam Tomkins) felt some pressure, Halligan celebrated their helter-skelter nature but for mine, this was all about composure. Johnson got the ball in a bit of a huff as he wasn't expecting it, but he assessed what was needed and put it high, landing 10 metres out, with Warriors chasing hard. Composed and classy.

Tomkins stepped up in the kicking department and while it's been pretty clear how much Tomkins helps the halves with ball in hand, the kicking he did was of low key importance. With Tomkins able to kick at first receiver, as he did, it A) means that he can get a good kick away because they're not expecting him to kick and then it B) means that Johnson or Townsend has that extra bit of time next time.

This was our biggest flaw earlier in the season, a lack of variety or options. We now have three kickers who can put in a solid kick, we've got a halfback who is one of the most dangerous ball runners in the NRL, we can attack down both flanks and can rumble through the middle #variety.

As I noted last week, Simon Mannering's passing game is legit. Not only did he have the most offloads of any Warrior with four, but his little left-to-right spiral passes are something to marvel at for a nerd like me. His pass puts Johnson on the outside of Tohu Harris and mayhem ensues in the Storm defensive line...

It must be said that Melbourne's defence out wide was horrible, and most of our good work game out on the edges. I don't wanna ruin the party because yeah the Warriors played very well, but over the next few weeks we are going to come up against teams who are much better defensively out in the centres/wing area.

However, we did see how good David Fusitua is and this raises an obvious issue for Andrew McFadden. Fusitua was good and so was Tuimoala Lolohea on the wing, both of these two lads would be in my top 17 each and every week, which leaves Konrad Hurrell in a bit of a spot. Don't you think Hurrell is the perfect player to have coming off the bench though? McFadden seems to love having injury cover on the bench and Hurrell ticks that box, while he's also the most destructive ball runner we have and his quick feet would pose a huge danger around the 30 minute mark.

Instead of it being Fusitua vs Hurrell, for me it's Siliva Havili vs Hurrell. Havili is a bit of a non-factor at the moment as McFadden isn't really using him a whole lot, so why not just have Hurrell there? Talk about a bit of funk, opposing teams wouldn't really know what was up.

That comes with Sione Lousi dropping off the bench when Ryan Hoffman returns.

Not a whole lot needs to be said about Nathan Friend, we all know what he offers and we have to keep it real - he's in great form. Whether he's making a key tackle around the legs or throwing a pass between his legs while doing a backflip, he's just in the game and he sets the tone in terms of effort.

I don't think Friend needs a spell, he can jam 80 minutes and we have other blokes who can step in to dummy half to give him a few plays off. Earlier in the season I wanted Havili there, but I just haven't seen enough from him to keep Hurrell out of the side.

We also saw how handy Jonathan Wright is. With Manu Vatuvei a late scratching, it's good to be able to call on an experienced player who can do a job.

The most pleasing aspect of this effort from the Warriors was their defence, which did slip up at various stages throughout the game. Overall however the Warriors have shown a willingness to show up on each and every play and while we see the benefits of power on attack, power comes from speed and quick feet which is also a huge asset on defence.

Take a look at this team that has been crafted over the course of the season, a lot of changes have been made both in terms of personnel and their style but they have hovered around the top eight while figuring those things out. It looks like a lot of things have now been figured out and while there are big improvements to be made on defence, we have a very mobile team who can get around the park without giving away much in terms of size.

Bandwagon hoppers won't see the development of this team, they just see the results and hop on board, but the Warriors have, over the course of the season morphed into their current version. There's a lot more morphing to do though, but while we were morphing around before, we didn't suffer any great string of losses and here we now are, sniffing around the top four.

May we morph some more and stay near the top of the ladder.