Over the past week and a bit, I've thoroughly enjoyed not thinking/speaking too much about the Warriors. That's odd, given how other media folk got their knickers in such a twist about recent dramas, will the forbidden players be selected (OMG!?!@$!@$!) and then Graham Henry's guest appearance, dropping a few feature verses and what not. 

You could be mistaken for thinking that the Warriors were/are the only sporting team in Aotearoa of any great interest. 

Meh, there's much more to worry about than Warriors dramas.

It was rather nice not really contemplating the Warriors to any great extent during that time, safe in the knowledge that any situation would be handled and we'd eventually reach this point. And here we are, our Warriors are set to face a very interesting Penrith Panthers team in Christchurch with a team that has a nice balance of players who impressed against the Dragons and the experienced players who deserve to be forgiven.

Before going any where, we need to shoutout the Panthers for taking this game to Christchurch. This is something that we can expect a lot more of as many NRL teams are have more than four kiwi lads in their team so it's only right that they venture across the ditch and put on a show for us. Not to mention that many kiwis support other NRL clubs besides the Warriors, so it's no surprise that between Warriors fans and local rugby league fans who are starved of live rugby league, that this is apparently nearing a sell out.

The Panthers present a unique challenge as they will throw the footy around and rely heavily on offloads to spark their attack. That comes on the back of a low key beastly forward pack which will test the Warriors forwards and their defence across the park. I see this as the perfect step up from the Dragons as the Panthers are high on confidence, led by Bryce Cartwright and the Warriors will need to be near their best to win.

I actually view this as one of the stronger Warriors teams of the season so far and if that's the result of those dramas, well then I'm happy those dramas took place (clouds and silver linings). John Palavi is the key benefactor as he'll start at lock with James Gavet starting at prop, Bodene Thompson will start on the edge (he's low key important) and Ben Matulino will come off the bench.

Ponder how fickle professional sport is; earlier this season I was celebrating Albert Vete and Sam Lisone as very promising young props, they slipped up and now the Warriors have a better-balanced team. They'll have to wait for their chance and that chance might not come for some time.

That's partly because the bench named by coach Andrew McFadden will offer immense impact as Matulino, Issac Luke, Charlie Gubb and Shaun Lane all offer something unique. Ideally, we'd see Matulino and Luke come on, make metres through the middle, sparking the Warriors' attack into gear. Gubb always has an impact as he's the most enthusiastic forward we have and Lane is a large body who didn't make the best debut - expect him to play with a point to prove. 

I love the balance because the bench will impact the game while the starters are the rugged-hard workers. I'm interested in how James Gavet and John Palavi go as I have enjoy their work in various doses this season, they'll look to keep the middle tight along with Jazz Tevaga and Jacob Lillyman. They aren't great defensive players, however Tevaga, Gavet and Palavi are blokes who have 'effort' listed as one of their key strengths so it's good to see the Warriors rolling with this style of player.

The return of Thomas Leuluai intrigues me, especially as I am the leader of David Fusitua's Fullback Fan Club. Leuluai is a soldier, yet is presence alongside Shaun Johnson in the halves hasn't exactly resulted in Johnson's best work nor success for the Warriors. I'm willing to give Leuluai time to settle into this combination because we've seen far too little of him in the halves, which makes his performance on Saturday crucial.

As leader of the Fusitua Fullback Fan Club, my ideal situation would be Fusitua at fullback with Lolohea partnering SJ7 in the halves. It's up to Leuluai to prove that his combination with SJ7 is better than Fusitua x Lolohea x SJ7, that's what I'm interested in.

There aren't too many easy games in the NRL, especially not for the Warriors who are a mid-table team. This is why we shouldn't get too down on the Warriors if they do lose as the Panthers are a decent team who have recently welcomed back key players, while our Warriors simply need to settle into their patterns and combinations (can we have the same line up for a few weeks Cappy?). 

This Warriors team is strong and I like it, so if they play near their best they could dominate the Panthers. I just feel like this is stage one after the rep round, this is Warriors 2.0 and as the Warriors are posted mid-table, they can afford to settle into the NRL grind after a crazy start to the season in which the only constat were distractions.