Diary Of A Warriors Fan - Do Or Die
Well at least someone likes/loves Sam Tomkins right?
Since the Warriors made the 2011 Grand Final on the back of a hot late-season/finals run, the Warriors have only come to disappoint fans when their season is on the line. Since 2011, the Warriors have finished 14th, 11th and 9th as they have simply haven't done the job when it mattered. Obviously we'd all love the Warriors to not be in must-win positions at this stage of the season, but we'd also love it if our team could show the sort of desperation and desire that are other NRL teams show at this time of the year.
With that, I am not in the slightest bit confident of the Warriors chances in Penrith on Saturday night.
If I were to be writing this with a positive tone, I'd be pointing to the return of Ryan Hoffman as a key reason as to why the Warriors might win. Hoffman's an Origin and Kangaroo forward who brings some much needed experience back in to this Warriors team, but Hoffman isn't a match-winner, he's a top-notch role player.
The other area of the Warriors that could have me eager to celebrate their chances is this bench that Andrew McFadden has rolled out. I don't know why it's taken so long to get to this point and we've only reached this point thanks to Ben Matulino copping a suspension (yeah, whatever) along with the unique case that is Konrad Hurrell.
McFadden persisted with Siliva Havili, which I struggled to comprehend. I had called for Havili to be included in this team earlier in the season, but I didn't call for him to be used sparingly in little/useless spurts which hinted at McFadden not being confident in Havili. If that was the case, why did he carry him on the bench every week, wasting a bench spot that could have been used by our young, aggressive forwards?
This bench is a thing of beauty, if beauty. Hurrell's there but while I want to see him used in a simple role where he's just told to run hard, I suspect McFadden might tinker with his backline to get Hurrell in there. Hurrell is a power player, which in combination with Albert Vete, Sam Lisone and Charlie Gubb is a bench with plenty of impact.
I'm just not confident that this bench will be used properly/how I think it should be best used.
Unfortunately such a bench means that Sam Rapira starts. For the Warriors to win, Jacob Lillyman and Rapira have to be better than Sam McKendry and Reagan Campbell-Gillard. I am definitely not confident that we'll see that, which could be used as an example as to how lacklustre our forward pack has been of late.
Dominique Peyroux makes an odd appearance after doing not much/not being given much of a chance all season. Manu Vatuvei's injury obviously scrambles things, but McFadden was awfully quick to dispose of Glenn Fisi'ahii and we now end up with Jonathan Wright once again being moved, this time to the wing.
Is Peyroux are good option at centre? We simply don't know because the sample size has been so small and if Peyroux struggles, you could definitely forgive him as he's being thrown into the deep end here ... /he's being thrown into the Pacific ocean with a few floaties.
Can Raymond Faitala-Mariner withstand all the traffic and the many different plays that the Panthers will throw at him? I'm not confident here either. Bryce Cartwright and Hoffman should go at it on one edge which will be a great contest, but it's interesting to see that Ivan Cleary has gone with Tyrone Peachey on the other edge which I suspect will see him up against Faitala-Mariner. We could also see Tupou Sopoaga here as he'll probably give Peachey a spell.
Now, Peachey gives up plenty of size to Faitala-Mariner but I think we could see Isaah Yeo moved in to defend against Faitala-Mariner as he's played in second row a lot this season. Peachey will however be a handful for Faitala-Mariner as he's freakishly quick and strong which will make for an interesting battle between these two.
It's rude to expect Tuimoala Lolohea to control the game for the Warriors, which is why it was so dumb when everyone was asking whether Lolohea could replace Shaun Johnson. Lolohea hasn't been asked to replace Johnson as Chad Townsend has done the bulk of the kicking in the last two with Lolohea allowed a bit more freedom. The issue here is that Townsend has stunk - he should be controlling the team and dictating what plays the run and when. Instead Townsend has been one of our worst.
Townsend and Sam Tomkins could pull something out of the bag this week against the Panthers and they could lead the Warriors to a much needed win. But once again, I'm not confident that this is how things will pan out.
Which is sad, but in past seasons we have seen the Warriors show a worrying lack of effort and desire when their season is on the line, that's been the hardest thing to stomach. If the Warriors show up with an intensity and enthusiasm that reflects the fact that their season is on the bring, then it's all good, that's all we can ask for. If they don't? Well our lads have just let us all down once again.
One thing I am confident in is my opinion that the loss of Shaun Johnson has highlighted the limitations of Townsend and Tomkins.