2 points, 2 points got me feeling stressed
Hit the joint, Jah bless
Tui Lolo with the finesse
Lost to Manly in the West
Time to raid Canberra and leave a mess
Make it a razzle-dazzle-fest!

Looking back on last week's loss in Perth now, only leaves me feeling like the Warriors let an opportunity slip because heading to Canberra doesn't have me overly excited about our chances this weekend. This is pretty much a full-strength Raiders team and they are at home, they've got a massive forward pack that steam-roll with ease as well as a backline that can pretty much do it all. I view this is a great test for our Warriors to see if they are worthy of holding down a top-8 spot, screw all those wins during Origin and wins against weaker opposition; an away trip to face a confident Raiders team will tell us how legit our crew is.

Bodene Thompson is still absent and as long as Thompson isn't playing, I'll be reminding y'all of that fact. Thompson was in great form before getting injured and while Bunty Afoa is a solid youngster, Afoa isn't rolling through 80 minutes of powerful ball-running and making 40+ tackles. The funk here is that Josh Papalii will likely line up on Canberra's left edge and usually that's where Thompson defends.

Last week, Manly enjoyed success going down their left edge, our right edge and Manly didn't even throw that much at the Warriors. With Papalii being one of the best edge forwards in the NRL, Ricky Stuart a creative attacking coach and a variety of weapons to use (Sezer, Austin, Lee, Croker, Wighton), I'm kinda worried about what's going to go down on our right edge defensively.

Shaun Johnson will have Papalii running at him the whole game and usually Johnson has Thompson there to help him out (hence Thompson makes so many tackles). Johnson will likely slide out and defend much of the game on the wing and the Blake Ayshford/Ken Maumalo doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.

And then Canberra have the dynamic duo of Joey Leilua and Jordan Rapana on their right edge. Guys and girls; I'm scared.

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This is why it's a huge test for the team in general because as we near Finals footy, better teams will be ruthless in their pursuit of a weakness. How the Warriors deal with the constant wave of attack that will come, targeting that right edge will be very interesting. How Afoa goes up against Papalii will also be very interesting.

Thankfully, Jacob Lillyman is back in action as Canberra have a strong middle presence led by Junior Paulo. He's joined by Shannon Boyd, Paul Vaughan and Joseph Tapine, slowing these blokes down and not allowing the likes of Josh Hodgson, Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer to get front-foot-footy will be crucial. Last week we saw the benefits of having a massive back three (Fusitua, Maumalo, Vatuvei) as they helped out their forwards in wet conditions and that's a unique strength of the Warriors team. This big back three doesn't defend through the middle though and if you're still believe that 'big Warriors forward pack' bullshit then you need to wake up.

The Warriors have a big back three which is hugely beneficial for sure, yet this week our forward pack will come up against bigger blokes who run harder and land on their front more often. David Fusitua might poke his head through with every run, but can James Gavet and Sam Lisone put a shot on Paulo or Boyd and put them on their backs?

It's all doom and gloom.

Not quite as it kinda plays into the Warriors strength and how they play their best footy. Canberra aren't the best defensive team and with a big forward pack, the Warriors will be wise to offload as much as possible, shift the ball from side to side and rely on the speed of Issac Luke, Shaun Johnson, Solomone Kata etc.

Obviously last week's wet conditions didn't allow the Warriors to do this and we instead saw them adjust nicely, sticking to a simple plan to pin Manly down their own end. If it's dry in Canberra, then the Warriors simply can't afford to play it safe and need to show a clear desire to attack, a clear intent to have some fun with the footy. This all starts with Luke running the footy around the ruck and Johnson carrying the footy in two hands, running to the line to entice defenders. Offloads and shifting the footy will come on the back of this as Luke and Johnson will dictate the tempo of the game with their running games; the Warriors need a quick tempo and we should all yell 'Speed it up eah!' at the telly as often as possible so they get the point.

A high-tempo is part of the Warriors identity. Speed, offloads and general razzle-dazzle are part of the Warriors identity. While this identity wasn't suited to facing Manly in the rain, it's perfectly suited to attacking a big Raiders forward pack in dry conditions.

Who enhances that identity and style of play? Well, that Tuimoala Lolohea bloke.

Please un-tie your knickers after you got them in a twist last week folks. It's complex but simply put; Lolohea wasn't suited to a gritty game in the rain, hence he wasn't used.

This week, expect to see more of Lolohea as his speed and skill will only help the Warriors break down the Raiders. Think about it as Lolohea is the epitome of the Warriors razzle-dazzle which we all love and that razzle-dazzle is what is going to give the Warriors a big win over a legit top-8 team.

Razzle-dazzle in the rain, against a gritty Manly team was never gonna work.

Gimme some Warriors razzle-dazzle! Hopefully it's dry in Canberra.