With every NZ Warriors result comes a very broad conversation about their overall fortunes. Forget whether the Warriors have turned a corner or if the Warriors are building you up just to cut you down again, let's not be silly. Our Warriors beat the Knights, as they should've, we can tick the 'job done' box and we keep it moving forward.

Trying to come up with big conclusions from that win in Newcastle is difficult because the Knights simply present opportunities that other teams do not. This is clearly evident in the Knights missing a monumental 41 tackles (vs the Warriors 16 missed tackles) and that the Warriors enjoyed a higher-than-usual share of possession with a 60/40 percent split in possession. The Warriors had more footy and the Knights missed three times as many tackles as the Warriors.

This was also on display down the Knights' left edge where the Warriors consistently found themselves with an extra man or two, hence David Fusitua bagged four tries. Of course, Fusitua is an exceptional young talent and I said in the preview to this game that Fusitua is definitely among the NRL's best young outside backs. I still think Fusitua has a lot more to offer in general play and was excited to see Andrew McFadden switch things up by taking Shaun Johnson off and shifting Tuimoala Lolohea and Fusitua into more prominent ball-playing roles for the last 10-15 minutes. 

I mean, in Fusitua and Lolohea we have two freaks and when people get their knickers in a twist they tend to forget just how talented many of our youngsters are. Fusitua and Lolohea are two of the best. Shout out to Kelston Boys for producing two classy young men.

Note that Fusitua's performance came with Manu Vatuvei doing some damage to one of his hamstrings. The recipe used to be to give Vatuvei the ball in a one-on-one situation 10m out from the tryline and watch him run over the top of someone, these days it's a similar situation with Fusitua except that Fusitua has mastered the art of flying and is nearly unstoppable one-on-one close to the tryline as he basically has an extra metre or so to work with over the touchline.

When the Warriors signed Blake Ayshford many people moaned and groaned. While it was the Fus who put the icing on the cake with his four tries, Ayshford also deserves plenty of credit as it's Ayshford who simply passes the footy on to set up the try. There's nothing flashy to Ayshford's game, he just knows what must be done for a try to be scored. Compare that to Solomone Kata, who is a strong runner but the ball always gets stuck with Kata and he needs to learn when to shovel the footy on and when to have a go. Ayshford is doing a solid job out there on the right and with Fusitua on his outside, Ayshford knows to just give him the footy and we shouldn't sleep on Ayshford's 2 try assists

The Warriors were afforded plenty of time and space by the Knights, which makes judging their overall attacking performance difficult. There was still the attacking intent, this just came in a more controlled manner with Shaun Johnson sneaking down a short-side or Ben Matulino running back across field and firing a pass behind the ruck. We have never really seen too much creativity from the Warriors in attack which has always been super frustrating so it was good to see them roll through a wider selection of their plays.

Again, it didn't take much to split Newcastle's defensive line so what the Warriors dish up against a better defensive team will offer us far greater insight into their attacking potential.
Newcastle hung in there for a decent chunk of this game and laid a challenge down to the Warriors. What was perhaps the most impressive aspect of this game for me was how the Warriors managed to close it out, not conceding a try in the second half and generally stepping up the intensity while the Knights faded. 

There was a level of line-speed from the Warriors that I've never really seen before as they swiftly pushed up and put pressure on Newcastle, often smothering them before they could contemplate their next move. This was maintained late in the game and the Warriors didn't let the Knights get any roll on in the second half thanks to that intent with their defence. Maybe the work with assistant coach Justin Morgan is paying off? 

This win certainly won't send shockwaves through the NRL regarding the Warriors' Premiership hopes as there will be many more teams who put a score on the Knights this season. It's 2 points in the bag and there's still good vibes that come with the Warriors getting the job done.