Diary Of A Warriors Fan - Case And Point
Before we go any further, I reckon the Warriors have been screwed over by the news of this whole Robbie Farah situation. Here we are, a young side/a side that resembles a NSW Cup team playing in Australia against a team who have just learned that their skipper has been told to look elsewhere.
Sure, we have been playing shit recently, but even if we weren't such a rabble, we'd probably get touched up by a scorned Tigers group.
That doesn't really leave me much wriggle room when talking about this game. It's a difficult one to get excited about, but as I said on Monday, we get another chance to see Mason Lino and Tui Lolohea in the halves together. That's nice and I hope whatever the Warriors dish up against the Tigers isn't viewed as a reflection of this halves combination.
I have got to thank Andrew McFadden because he's gifted me a prime example of his Confusing Cappy antics. Ken Maumalo is case and point here as he has been dropped to reserve grade after a poor showing on the left wing against the Cowboys. This has led me to believe that McFadden simply has a long way to go in his learning process as a head coach in the NRL.
This has happened all season but Maumalo's predicament fits everything perfectly. How Maumalo receives the force of Cappy's wrath, I'm not quite sure as while he definitely wasn't overly good on defence, it wasn't Maumalo's fault that he found himself constantly up shit's creek. That was the fault of those inside him and the team who allowed the Cowboys to dominate the middle of the field.
Even if Maumalo had a shocker, dropping him at this stage of the season doesn't do much besides sucking away any confidence that he previously had.
I feel like this is a convenient time to remind everyone that Dominique Peyroux (who is leaving the club) missed 6 tackles against the Cowboys, the most of any player on the field. Peyroux is the man replaced Konrad Hurrell who was dropped for his attitude and application on defence #GoFigure.
What makes the Maumalo decision even crazier, is that his replacement Matt Allwood is a centre who Cappy brought across the ditch with him and has only played one game for the Warriors. Maumalo's performance was deemed to be so bad, that he's been replaced by Allwood who has himself been royally messed around.
Don't get me started on Sebastine Ikahihifo who starts at prop in place of the injured Jacob Lillyman.
I have come to ease up on my dislike for Cappy and his confusing selections as I get comfortable with my belief that Cappy just needs to learn. Cappy, like this young team are at the start of their NRL journeys and for all their potential, they have shown that they have a long, long way to go. I just hope that throughout this slump (what's worse than a slump?) Cappy learns about man-management.
It's hard to bust your gut for your coach, when your coach hasn't shown much faith in you.
I really don't see this game going too well. Martin Taupau and Aaron Woods will probably make us look very soft through the middle. Luke Brooks and Mitchell Moses will put our young halves to shame and James Tedesco will make Sam Tomkins glad he's going back to the Super League ... and make us happy that Tomkins is off as well.
Be warned folks, this one could get ugly. Just like the last few have been.