There's nothing quite like a Broncos vs Warriors in Aotearoa. Sure, these two teams have some sort of history but whenever Brisbane Broncos venture across the ditch to take on the Warriors, this suddenly becomes a massive rivalry. Funny how you don't really here about how these two teams are rivals when they play in Brisbane and let's make this clear; there is absolutely no rivalry here and the Warriors will only enjoy a rivalry when another team from Aotearoa joins them in the NRL.

Perhaps another kiwi NRL team would be wise to model themselves on the Broncos because they're pretty much everything the Warriors wish they could be. Besides trying to sell tickets and what not, that could be where these games do make up a rivalry because the Broncos are the blueprint and the Warriors are the wannabes. Two teams at the opposite end of the spectrum, both the only team thus enjoying high visibility in major markets going at each other in games that tend to only be competitive during the Origin period.

Hey, we're in the Origin period!

Despite losing Anthony Milford, Darius Boyd, Corey Oates, Matt Gillett, Sam Thaiday and Josh McGuire though, Brisbane have an incredibly deep roster. This is led by Benji Marshall stepping into the halves to do exactly what he was signed for and Marshall is part of a strong #KiwiNRL contingent that obviously don't play Origin - they will however line up in the Battle of Aotearoa.

Point being that Brisbane will still be fairly slick and Wayne Bennett will have this specific group eager to prove themselves. The Warriors are without Jacob Lillyman as he's with Queensland preparing for Origin and that in itself is somewhat interest as Lillyman has been solid this season without being crazy dominant. Just like most of his comrades, Lillyman was dominant when the Warriors ran through Gold Coast and Parramatta, but he's just been solid otherwise. Queensland have enjoyed great service from Lillyman in a far more restricted role off the bench and the combination of Matt Scott's absence and their faith in guys who have done the job before, gives Lillyman another Origin game.

Last week the Warriors struggled to contain the Dragons and while everyone was kicking up a stink about the number of offloads that the Warriors allowed, not many other teams have been able to restrict the Dragons offloads either. They lead the NRL in offloads with 150, 25 more than the Bulldogs who are ranked 2nd. Brisbane sit in 8th with 118, so they'll try a few and would have noted last week's win from the Dragons so how the Warriors learn from last week will be interesting to observe. Aggression and numbers - not in the tackle - around the footy will be crucial.

Also, many love to rip into the Warriors defence and things get awfully dramatic when media members or fans start talking about missed tackles with regards to the Warriors. Having missed 333 tackles this season, the Warriors are ranked 8th while Brisbane have missed 352 tackles and are 5th. Of the seven teams to miss more tackles than the Warriors this season, six of them are ahead of the Warriors on the ladder. So when you're whinging about the Warriors missing tackles, remember that the Broncos (2nd), Sharks (3rd) and Roosters (4th) have all missed more tackles than the Warriors.

What's holding the Warriors back is that they can't score points; they are 13th in points scored and 12th in tries scored.

Ben Matulino will start and along with Albert Vete off the bench, they will be tasked with dominating a Broncos forward pack that the Warriors could regain their mojo against. Unlike against the Dragons, the Warriors enjoy an eye-test size advantage which is helped with the return of Simon Mannering. The Warriors forward pack appears bigger, more experienced and more mobile which puts them in a position that we never really get to enjoy as we should expect them to dominate their opposition.

Don't think that the return of Mannering will only help the defence either as he's got 6 offloads this season, putting him equal with David Fusitua and just behind Bodene Thompson and Shaun Johnson who have 7 each. Mannering has played two less games than the other three though.

Vete benefits from Lillyman's absence and if Vete does play, he'll be frothing to show Stephen Kearney that he can offer plenty at this level. Starting this season, Vete was one of our big up and coming forwards but Kearney wasn't having a bar of that and put him back in reserve grade for a couple of months. This is Vete's chance to show that he can make metres, earn quick play-the-balls and smash blokes in defence. That's what James Gavet has done and funnily enough, Gavet has leap-frogged Vete, Sam Lisone and Charlie Gubb in the pecking order.

In no way, shape or form do I see Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson combining their powers for another super mediocre performance. Issac Luke is exempt from this as he can only really flex out of dummy half when the team is rolling forward, while the others simply aren't doing their job, let alone playing at their very best. Common sense suggests that Kearney and attacking coach Steve McNamara (also a Kiwis assistant coach) would have placed an emphasis on this lack of ... well, anything in attack and we've got to expect that they are a lot better.

How? Well it's always handy to simplify.

Run direct with options inside and out. A key word for me is 'earn' because during these struggles, Foran and Johnson haven't earned the right to go wide as they haven't engaged the middle defenders. They haven't earned repeat sets, they haven't earned a try scoring opportunity by moving defenders and forcing them to defend multiple sets. Earn time and space by throwing different looks at the defence; pop up on the other edge or integrate a different player into set-moves.

Something hasn't quite been working with giving Tuivasa-Sheck the footy out in the wide channels and this is where I think the change will come. It's been all too easy to read as the Warriors move the ball along the backline to where Tuivasa-Sheck predictably receives it with defenders in front of them, after sliding over.

I have come to view the losses to the Panthers and Dragons as depressing, but more crazy than anything. They got blown away by rather funky footy in 10-20 minute stints and their grinding style then became invalid. Against Brisbane, there's every reason to think that the grind should incorporate some flair and less-experienced Broncos team won't be able to hang.

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