Remember when Aotearoa Warriors won their first five games of the season? It was a long time ago and I don't bring that up as an example of how the Warriors have dramatically fallen away, I bring that up to highlight how long an NRL season is. Or how long an NRL season can feel because since being 5-0, the Warriors have followed it up with equally weird patches where the went LWLWLWL and now a WWLL stage.

So yeah, it's safe to say that we have an inconsistent Warriors team in 2018 who have somehow managed to ride the ups and downs of an NRL season while still holding on to a winning record (10-6). No matter how crap the loss to Penrith Panthers was, this Warriors team is still 10-6 and is still highly likely to make the Finals.

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Another big loss only reinforces my belief that this Warriors team highlights what is lurking within your soul. The lows have been brutal, like wtf is going on type of brutal and with so many lows juxtaposed against so many highs that in the moment make you rejoice to Jah, you either have to chose to be positive or negative. The nature of these highs and lows is what makes it so clear cut to me and even though the loss to Cronulla Sharks was a lot closer than losing to the Panthers, the same 'off' signs were there; less possession than their opponent, more penalties conceded, high errors and LESS OFFLOADS.

Obviously, being a Negative Ned is silly and you're the only one who pays the price for your negativity. Hence it's beneficial and important given the context of what has happened to this point in 2018 with the Warriors and even in the NRL because there are crazy results every week, to just move on and hope that they win their next game. Regardless of who their next opponent is (Melbourne Storm), the Warriors have shown consistently this season that what happened the week before doesn't matter, nor does it matter who they are playing as they tend to get back to winning ways quickly.

As my job is half Warriors spiritual guru and half Warriors analyst, there's got to be some analysis here and all of that centres around attack, or lack of it.

Defence wins Championships and all that good stuff, there have been many signs this season that the Warriors have made notable defensive improvements as well. Strong defensive efforts have unfortunately come between numerous hidings from slick attacking teams, which understandably clouds the perception around the Warriors defence. As important as defence is, this Warriors group isn't going to win anything based on defence and with such attacking class in their team, it still comes back to scoring more points than your opposition.

We all know the Storm love themselves some defence, but they beat St George Illawara Dragons 52-30 and that's the second time this season they have scored 50+ points (we know who the first time was agains). The Dragons have also scored 50+ points once and South Sydney Rabbitohs have scored 40+ points twice and our Warriors struggle to get up over the 30 point mark.

If the Warriors score over 30 points, that means they will probably have the footy a lot more, thus they will be settling into their attacking flow of moving the footy around and maintaining pressure on their opponents. That means fatigue for the opponent and less defence for the Warriors, likely to result in an easier defensive effort.

In the last three games though, the Warriors have have a minority stake in possession. They got away with just 42% possession vs North Queensland Cowboys because the Cowboys kinda suck and then, against two teams who would happily take majority possession, the Warriors had 47% vs Sharks and 43% vs Panthers.

Scoring points being of greater importance than defence is more specific to the Warriors than other NRL teams because of the players in their roster and how the confidence that flows from razzle dazzle. This vibe was prevalent in Penrith because the Warriors were rampant with their defensive line when pegging the Panthers down their own end and they gained an upper hand in this set-for-set phase through, decent kicks and an aggressive defensive line.

But when they had the footy down the Panthers end, it was a different story. Nothing worked. It was shit-storm, a big pile of attacking poo and then the Warriors would see the Panthers score points when they enjoyed repeat sets down on the Warriors line. Most teams will score with repeat sets, so this wasn't a worrying sign for the Warriors defence, unlike the inability of the Warriors to score with repeat sets. From there, bad vibes take over and the Panthers gained confidence, the Warriors no they're having a stinker and cowabunga.

Possession is also specific to the Warriors, compared to a team like the Sharks who can stay in the contest with less footy and grind away. The Warriors need the footy to work their opponent over and I gotta stress that so much of their defensive impetus starts with having the footy, forcing the opponent to work hard chasing the footy and controlling the tempo.

There was no tempo/ruck speed vs Panthers and with 43% possession, there was no defensive work to be done for the Panthers; Panthers could have probably played another 30 minutes. The Warriors need footy to offload, to hit their edges, to roll through multiple sets featuring multiple dummy half runs followed by offloading and passing. That's the meat and vege, but with 43% of the footy, ain't none of that happening.

This then flows into why the Warriors attacking shapes don't look anywhere near as potent as they had before. With more possession and doing the schemes they want, dummy half runs suck in defenders before hitting the edge. Quick play-the-balls don't allow the edge to jam up and shut down a shift. Offloads followed by passing move the footy to the other side where space is and if there's not a line break there, there will definitely be a quick play-the-ball and a chance to set up the sweeping play to the right against a timid defensive line.

Against a set defensive line, who are able to move forward, the Warriors look lost in attack. I don't think it's their attack that is the problem in that regard, it's more a case of whatever is causing the Warriors to give up that disparity in possession. They are still 10-6 and likely to make the Finals, giving them a month to truly suss out the adjustment good opposition teams have made to nullify the Warriors and to suss out how they can consistently at least maintain possession parity.

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Peace and love 27.