Diary of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: How Many Points Is Blake Green Worth?
Allgeezy B-Greezy.
Aotearoa Warriors did a fine job of making it hard for a full-strength Melbourne Storm team to win at Mt Smart, unfortunately the hosts also made it damn hard for themselves to win and were their own worst enemy. This wasn't the best game of footy, perhaps you had a Sunday afternoon nap during it and I don't blame you as it felt like a case of two good teams playing well below their best.
What the Warriors did do well, was show up with an aggressive intent and the required energy to beat the Storm. The Warriors were energetic, especially with their defence as they were able to stop the Storm scoring points through typically solid goal-line defence and also typical of the Warriors this season has been their ability to dominate tackles as their opponent works out of their own territory. It was the Warriors who drove their opponents back, dumped them on their backsides and showcased their low key impressive wrestling.
This is the difference between the big losses that the Warriors have endured and a loss 12-6 loss in which they only conceded two tries. The mentality to grind with the Storm and sustain a high level of energy and enthusiasm was there, but the execution of the actual playing footy bit was no where to be found.
Weird huh? The Warriors tried hard and were impressive with their attitude etc, yet this time around a lack of execution robbed them of a win. I'm not talking about the Warriors being slightly off their game, they were terrible and despite having 52 percent of the footy, they consistently turned the footy over without troubling Melbourne, finishing with 72 percent completion.
6 points was the difference, that's one converted try and given how poorly the Warriors played with the footy, it's not a stretch to suggest that missing Blake Green was the difference. This is primarily because the Warriors lacked composure, patience and class to finish their sets; exactly what Green offers.
The razzle dazzle was there, with the Warrior shifting the footy and creating space. The calm presence of Green was not there though, to organise the team and offer a cool head to counter the frantic ball movement. Everyone has celebrated Green's arrival at the Warriors and the impact he's had on Shaun Johnson. Green's class simplifies what Johnson is required to do and without Green, we saw the same Johnson of previous seasons who has to do everything ... and can't.
Given that, I reckon the Warriors are a better team with Green and Mason Lino instead of Johnson and Lino. This was a game that reminded me how far the Warriors have come in 12 months because it was the same frustrating kerfuffle from last season. I love and respect what Johnson can do, this is more about how much better Johnson is when he's got an experienced half alongside him, complimenting each other.
With 52 percent footy, Green gets a couple more repeat sets than the lone drop out forced by Lino. The whole team is guilty, not just the halves as they pushed passes and made poor decisions when taking a tackle, getting to the kick and putting the Storm under pressure via defence would have sufficed. Pushing offloads when not needed, passes going behind players, rash kicks before the last. It was the full smorgasbord of crappy execution.
Which is all good. Green was a late omission and the lack of execution came with high energy. Execution can be practiced, Green will return. For the Warriors to stay in this contest despite being sub-par and almost grab a 'find a way to win' win, is somewhat impressive at this stage of the season.
I liked the defence. The mongrel that the Warriors tackled with in the early tackles after a kick was the same from the Brisbane Broncos game and physically, it was great to see the Warriors dominate the Storm in patches. The flanks defended strongly as well, led by David Fusitu'a and Ken Maumalo making smart reads and then executing the required tackles, the Warriors nullified the threat of the Storm out wide where Billy Slater does a lot of ball-playing.
Adam Blair played 80 minutes at right edge, Simon Mannering starting through the middle. This was a continuation from last week and has been a super undercover change from coach Stephen Kearney with the absence of Tohu Harris. More than anything, this along with having Lino and Joseph Vuna on the field in the last 10 minutes is another example of how the Warriors are making do with what they have.
The absence of Peta Hiku wasn't huge, although I do think that Hiku's creativity and play-making is useful. He adds a strong offloading presence without losing any impact carting the footy up-field, it's just hard to see where he fits into this backline. I raise Hiku because if you take Hiku out of the team, have Blair on the right edge and are playing without Green, this will have an impact on the team's ability to create better scoring opportunities; Hiku and Blair with their offload/passing, Green's composure and class.
Absorbing is the best way to describe this game. Like Cronulla Sharks, Melbourne Storm love themselves an absorbing contest, gritty and grimey, grinding sort of footy. The type of game where the best player on the field by a large margin was Cameron Smith because Smith knows exactly what to do and how to do it; Smith had 10 kicks, second only to Johnson's 12 kicks.
The Storm as a team have played many of these games this season, mixing in huge wins with 1-point wins. I'm glad the Warriors got a sniff of what this type of game is all about, even happier that a younger Warriors side got to experience this and regardless of how mediocre they were with the footy, they hung in there and didn't let the Storm get out of touch. Live and learn, on to the nek.
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Peace and love 27.