Before cracking on to this juicy Warriors encounter with the Roosters, do youz remember how the Warriors and Sky Sports teamed up for that pre-season documentary (these aren't documentaries folks) thing. There was a bit of noise and hype around it before it screened and obviously when people saw it as well, overall it was alright. Nothing all that awesome and not a terrible piece of viewing either.

When you put what the Warriors and Sky Sports did, then compare it to what Wests Tigers have done and it puts whatever Sky Sports cooked up to shame. Not only was their 'This Day Forward' series more insightful in terms of the actual content and also rolling through four episodes (compared to Sky's lazy effort), Wests Tigers did it themselves, on their own Youtube.

Wests Tigers did a far better job in whipping up their own pre-season series on their own Youtube channel than the Warriors and Sky Sports did. Not only that, Youtube provides far greater access than Sky TV given that more people are likely to have the internet than Sky TV and even in lower socio-economic areas, this makes for great viewing for a school classrooms - schools have internet etc.

The Tigers have a fantastic Youtube presence, with constant content and genuinely interesting content. The Warriors on the other hand, haven't uploaded in two months and their most recent content of player interviews became their Instagram content which means that there's no actual insight gained. 

As someone who has consistently highlighted how New Zealand Cricket fail to use Youtube anywhere remotely close to how it could be used to the benefit of themselves and fans, it baffles me how the Warriors are also neglecting Youtube.

For whatever reason, we have two kiwi sporting organisations (I'll take a deep dive and check out other kiwi sports' Youtube presence at some stage) who simply don't view Youtube as a resource that benefits them. It honestly baffles me, it's just so silly, especially when other teams or sporting organisations are making the most of Youtube.

Aaannnnnyway...

When we were all pondering the Warriors 2018 season, no one would have suggested that the Warriors would be 3-0 (with two away wins!). That's exactly what we are dealing with right now and it feels as though people think this is some sort of dream, that it isn't real. The Warriors have kinda done everything fans have wanted them to do for a long time in becoming a team that pours their souls into defensive effort, while putting their attacking abundance to best use.

Those good vibes won't vanish if the Warriors lose to the Roosters, this is more of a genuine gauge of how our Warriors are trucking along. We know it's a long season and in all honesty, a couple of losses now could be beneficial in offering a bit of a reality check after the dream start. The Roosters will be the best team the Warriors will have faced after four rounds of footy. 

I don't really have any concerns about the Warriors scoring points. After each game I have highlighted their attacking moves, different shapes they run, their general skill-level and unique aspects to their game such as Issac Luke's scoot and offload/pass. The have so many options at their disposal and they also have a settled spine that continues to build their combinations, simmering away.

With a forward pack that is rarely dominated laying a platform for Cooper Cronk, Luke Keary and James Tedesco; the gauge will come without the footy for the Warriors.

Tedesco and Cronk will test the inside efforts of the Warriors with Tedesco always lingering around the footy. The Roosters will hit their edges with this combination as well, after pulling defenders in with their forwards and those forwards along with the likes of Blake Ferguson will offer us a beautiful insight into the defensive mongrel of the Warriors when the Roosters are coming out of their own end.

Stephen Kearney has filled Sam Lisone's spot with Tevita Satae. I have explored Satae's rise at the Warriors in-depth here, so read that and get some context around Satae before the game. There's also the 'positional' switch of Agnatius Paasi and Adam Blair, although this really doesn't matter too much as despite their positional switch between lock and prop, they both started in the middle last week and they'll both start in the middle this week.

Paasi didn't get many minutes last week and I'm keen to see how he goes this week as he gives up a bit of size to the Roosters forwards. This flows into the same narrative of last week; mobile, skillful forwards vs bigger forwards.

Jazz Tevaga played a huge role last week by offering energy and enthusiasm, with his mobility an asset on attack and defence. Bunty Afoa plays in the middle, but moves like an edge forward.

Ligi Sao isn't massive either and he offloading at will in the second half during the comeback, add Paasi into that and you've got a trio of forwards who are big enough, aggressive enough, are super mobile and either offload, or allow the Warriors to shift the footy, thus shifting the Roosters forwards, through their passing ability.

Adam Blair loves a pass as well. 

Don't in any way think that the Warriors forward pack is small though and their bigger blokes (Tohu Harris, Leivaha Pulu, James Gavet, Satae) are all mobile with nimble feet. 

If the Warriors forward can play with an excessive level of aggression and enthusiasm, I can see their skill and mobility troubling the Roosters. Narrowing my gauge down to one aspect of the Warriors performance to suss out, it would be the intensity of the forwards. Do the Warriors forwards have the mongrel in them to ruffle feathers away from home?

That alone has me fizzing with excitement.

Hit an ad to support the Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan.

Or jump on Patreon and support the Niche Cache by becoming a patron. There's some bonus stuff there for those lovely people.

Peace and love 27.