In a back and forth tussle, also known as a grinding game of footy, would you rather have Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran or Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk leading your team?

It's almost that simple folks and as the Warriors played as expected - little razzle dazzle and a basic game plan of kicking accurately, relying on defence to stay in the contest - no one on Earth is going to expect Johnson and Foran to out-play Smith and Cronk in closing out such a game. 

Cronk's try started with Cronk summing up a situation, ensuring that Will Chambers got early footy despite Melbourne coming out of their own territory. Cronk knew where the footy had to go and he knew Chambers needed it quickly, with space.

Josh Addo-Carr's try was sparked by Smith summing up a situation quickly and executing the right play. You can actually see Smith's thought process play out as he looks to kick, only to note that the Storm have numbers down the left and he then flings it out there and simple over-lap leads to the try.

The two game-sealin' tries were started by Smith and Cronk assessing situations and swiftly making the right decision. 

The funk however came in Nelson Asofa-Solomona and that's where the Storm are slightly bonkers. Not only do they have their big-three and Jesse Bromwich and Jordan McLean and Will Chambers, they can unleash Wellington's beastly creature in NAS who can impact a contest as he did against our Warriors. 

Losses are disappointing, although I always try to dish out some context around any result. 

The Warriors didn't get away with what the Storm were doing in the ruck, nor did the Warriors get blown away by the Storm. They defended strongly and bar for Chambers gassing Bodene Thompson, things could have been a bit different. Don't stress about the result, or how the Warriors are poised on the ladder right now; there's improvements and as long as they can chip away with enough wins to make the eight, they'll be playing their best footy when it really matters.

This vibe is amplified by news of Ben Matulino's departure to Wests Tigers, on the back everyone knowing that Foran will probably leave. We have one year with this group, forget 2018 and beyond, all we have is this year and the Premiership window is currently open.
Brush aside your disappointment, get ya chin up and enjoy what we have right now and what this team is growing into. Premierships definitely aren't won in April.

Offloads are a weird stat because offloads definitely help a team score points (running defenders around, scrambling a defence and switching the point of attack) but offloads aren't an automatic indicator for success. Melbourne had 15 offloads to just 4 from the Warriors and if you were still scratching your head about what's happening with the Warriors under Stephen Kearney, that should help you out. 

Offloads perhaps helped the Storm move the Warriors defence around, tiring them out quicker but the penalties and less possession plays a part in that as well. Completing at 86 percent, the Warriors don't rely on offloads for their attack and instead, when they were inside Melbourne's 20m zone, they calmly executed a slick backline move to score. Nothing crazy, just ya know; Foran passing to Johnson passing to Tuivasa-Sheck.

Many defences have struggled to handle Foran in isolation over the years and the same can be said for Johnson and Tuivasa-Sheck throughout their NRL careers. So when they combine with a well drawn up attacking play, it could border on being impossible to stop. Each of them is a lethal ball-runner so the defence needs to pay respect to that, this holds a defender up just slightly and then the ball has moved on to the next threat.

David Fusitua's first try was a super basic play, with Foran running all the way to the line, using Bodene Thompson as a decoy, stripping the Storm's numbers - Foran sucks in four Storm defenders because of his own running threat and the threat offered by Thompson. Johnson gets it out the back and gives Blake Ayshford early ball, then he and Fusitua play a little two vs two.

Fusitua's second try brings out that diamond and this is crucial because once again we see something that we haven't seen in the past as Foran gets the footy with Ligi Sao cutting inside and Matulino on his outside, Johnson out the back. 

Johnson carries the ball all the way to the Storm's line - just as Foran did for the first try - with Mannering on his hip and Tuivasa-Sheck out the back. Melbourne had already had numbers sucked in thanks to the diamond, then they creep in again to try stop Johnson and Mannering, so Tuivasa-Sheck has a three vs one to work with.

The Warriors don't need to do as much (offloads, weird trick shots) to score points as they did under previous coaches. This is largely thanks to the fact that they've got Foran, Johnson and Tuivasa-Sheck, but the plays drawn up by Kearney and attacking coach Steve McNamara (who will offer the same to the Kiwis) are well thought out. In the past everything has been slow, stagnant and too far in front of the defensive line.

Also noteworthy is that McNamara worked with Tuivasa-Sheck at the Roosters.

When you have an attacking threat that will usually get you points in 'good ball', you don't need to get over-excited in other aspects. That the Warriors engaged the Storm in a grind should get you excited alone and this was made possible by a kicking game that kept the Storm inside their own 30m on their first tackle. I can best sum that up by: no wasted kicks.

Sure, Johnson didn't do the best kick late in the game but the number of kicks from Foran that land a few metres off the try-line is beautiful. Even Johnson's long kicking game is fun to watch as he not only gets distance, but he gets height on the kicks so even though Billy Slater gets the footy on the full, because of the hang time of the kick, the Warriors can roll their kick-chase down the field to greet Slater on the 20/30m line. Johnson's got those little grubbers on lock as well and that he can unleash a curving grubber after a shimmy is kinda magical.

The Storm had to keep working their way out from deep in their own territory and as Warriors fans, we just haven't enjoy the consistency of accurate kicks that we've got now.

I'm going to have to highlight Tuivasa-Sheck every game because this dude was and will be the best player in a Warriors jersey more often than not; 20 carries, 230m and a try assist. When the Warriors need someone to make 10m and get them out of trouble, the captain steps up and his footwork makes it almost impossible for the first defender to get him. 

Tuivasa-Sheck is 10th in run-metres, averaging 10.03m/pc and he's had five-straight games in which he's run for 200m or more. He's already got 2 try assists and he's 13th in tackle busts.
Last week everyone was complaining about Solomone Kata and Ken Maumalo's defence. Funny that a key try was scored thanks to Kata not being there, right?

Against Canberra and now the Storm, Issac Luke has been yanked from the field for the last stanza of the game and in both games, the Warriors have been out-played in that last stanza. I'm not sure what Kearney is up to here but when Luke isn't on the field, you certainly notice it as he's a crisp passer either way and his scoots are unstoppable.

Luke's departure from the field is obviously planned by Kearney and I wondered if Kearney planned to pull Kata at halftime. I doubt it, but it was convenient that Kata didn't return from halftime and that this forced Mannering to play right edge, where Mannering will probably play for the Kiwis. Kearney could have been giving Mannering a chance to flex on the edge, but obviously that would make Kearney look like a dick as Thompson got done by Chambers.

I'm going to be very interested in how Kearney juggles the middle forward rotation with Matulino back. James Gavet (48mins) and Jacob Lillyman (51mins) put in big shift, while Matulino played 46mins thanks to Mannering moving to the edge. Sam Lisone offers some speed, Ligi Sao offers some footwork and Matulino is a bit bigger, while Gavet/Lillyman have been in great form so I like this middle forward group. Kearney just needs to juggle their minutes so that Gavet for example, doesn't lose his edge with fatigue.

Kearney could well keep Matulino's minutes restricted now that he's off to Wests Tigers.

Apart from his two tries, Fusitua is making a strong case that he's a better runner than Ken Maumalo. Fusitua looks at home on the wing and he appears to have trimmed down a bit, allowing him to be more agile with his natural size.  I'm kinda losing the vibe on Maumalo as he's getting easier and easier to tackle thanks to him only running it straight, whereas Fusitua always pokes through the line and is lighter on his feet. Fusitua had 15 carries for 154m, Maumalo had 16 carries for 144m.

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