The 2018 Aotearoa Warriors season has featured many weeks in which I approach the weekend's footy with great excitement, this week it's all nerves as the Warriors take on Brisbane Broncos. An away trip to a team who can very easily rack up another hefty score on the Warriors, on the back of what is now a typically sporadic smoking by quality opposition and I'm nervous about what will go down in Brisbane.

We’re back at home this week to face the @nz_warriors!

A post shared by Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) on Jul 9, 2018 at 3:33pm PDT

In losing to Penrith Panthers, the Warriors lost consecutive games for the first time this season. It feels like there is an underbelly of Warriors doom and gloom, the type of doom and gloom which doesn't quite align with a 10-6 record, or losing consecutive games just once in 17 rounds of footy; everything about the 2018 season points to the Warriors bouncing back strongly vs Broncos.

Of course, the way in which the Warriors have gone down in their losses is the issue. Like whatever good will the Warriors have earned through largely delightful performances this season and ensuring that one shit week doesn't flow into two shit weeks, suddenly three shitters, is countered by how the Warriors have lost their games. A close loss to Cronulla Sharks was extra-ordinary, being smoked has been the norm ... when the Warriors lose.

Sunday at Suncorp Stadium feels like a game the Warriors will show up for, at the very least we know that the Warriors don't get bogged down and there's high bounce back potential this weekend. Not only is this a bounce back game, Stephen Kearney will be eager to flex against Uncle Wayne Bennett and his former club, then we have the stage, the meaning around the game that simply has me feeling that the Warriors will rise to the occasion.

Not that they have risen to any great/minor occasion so far this season. This is just feelings and vibes from me ahead of this game, I can't get too caught up on how the Warriors should play or who Kearney will roll out in his team. As we have seen in recent weeks and the whole season, strong Warriors performances depend solely on whether the Warriors 'turn up'.

And before you get into a huff about Warriors 'turning up'; I have no problems with this uncertainty around the Warriors turning up as they are 10-6, have lost consecutive games just once etc. Sure, it's a major work-on that needs to be fixed ahead of Finals footy and we consistently get examples of how you only need to be slightly off, a smidge away from 'turning up' and you will lose in the NRL.

Uncertainty breeds nerves. Maybe I speak for all Warriors fans when I say that Broncos vs Warriors, in Brisbane, round 18, feels like a huge game for the Warriors and even the Broncos who are chasing Finals footy. Strictly from a Warriors perspective, it feels as though everything prior to this point is being crammed, jam-packed into this moment, like a Game of Thrones montage of all the crazy things that have happened then bang, a slow shot of the Night's King.

This game sets the tone for what follows and what follows is the climax of the season. I've been able to absorb the ups and downs of the season because I keep the bigger picture in mind, now we are approaching the stage of the season where we embrace the urgency. We aren't there yet and a loss in Brisbane can still be just another learning capsule, but we're getting close and regardless of how I've viewed the Warriors' mental fortitude, fitness, attitude, execution to this point, they will solely be judged by what happens in the coming weeks.

We are all scorned, scorched earth by what we have experienced as Warriors fans. We have felt the embers, the heat from the charcol this season as the Warriors remind us of our scars. You gotta be brave to look past that, to feel the pain and say 'fuck it'. As understanding as I am of the direction of the Warriors long-term, right now it's all nerves, none of us have any idea what will happen at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.

Crucial, but not must-win. See you on the other side.

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Peace and love 27.