Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: Wee Bit Better vs Cowboys
The whole 'stay mellow' concept permeating from these Diary of an Aotearoa Warriors Fan things has been on delightful display throughout the NRL's restart as the Warriors defeated St George Illawara Dragons, lost to Penrith Panthers and last night grabbed a nice win over North Queensland Cowboys. In defeating the Dragons, the Warriors out-performed a club with a woeful stench coming from it and that's reason to stay mellow.
In losing to the Panthers, the Warriors showcased the negative aspect of a young roster in this wider situation. Definitely stay mellow there. Then, a win over the Cowboys was good for the Warriors but we can't pretend like the Warriors rose above an excellent Cowboys team - it kinda felt like the opposite. And so, we stay mellow and appreciate 2 points.
You can get whipped into a frenzy by local mainstream media who ride the Warriors rollercoaster after taking some molly, making the highs and lows feel far more emphatic than they may be. Or, you find yourself digging in for the long-haul and sussing out the minor details to understand Warriors footy; there is a long way to go folks.
This was a strange old game in which the Warriors always felt like a decent chance of winning as they scored tries with reasonable ease, yet this came in conjunction with untimely errors and penalties against the Warriors. Take the first 10 minutes of the second half for example when the Warriors had a 17-12 lead, only for an error from Eliesa Katoa to hand possession over to the Cowboys immediately after half-time and then a try to Justin O'Neill.
Then the Warriors scored via Adam Pompey, only for King Vuniyayawa to make an error and then the Warriors conceded a penalty. That directly led to Francis Molo scoring a try and suddenly, the Warriors are 21-22 down. Fortunately, from that point on (49th minute) there was one error from Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in the 51st minute and then the last 25 minutes of the game saw the Cowboys make 5 errors while the Warriors had just 1 more error in that last stanza.
After Blake Green's penalty in the 48th minute (after Vuniyayawa's error) the Cowboys conceded 3 penalties to finish the game, while the Warriors conceded no penalties. The Cowboys only got back into the contest during that 10 minute patch after half-time via the Warriors errors and penalties, then the scenario flipped and the Warriors played their role in closing the game out effectively as the Cowboys imploded.
The Warriors started with Tohu Harris on the right edge, Adam Blair in the middle and Eliesa Katoa on the left edge - as per the team list. Having seen Harris play through the middle and do exceptionally well there in recent weeks, I was a bit bummed by this but coach Stephen Kearney in all his cuteness had a plan; 20 minutes in and Jack Murchie comes on for Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, but Murchie moves to right edge and Harris slides into the middle.
Here's Harris in edge positions to start the game…
Here’s Murchie out on the edge later in the game and chuck this shot into the mix below of Harris getting a quick play-the-ball to help Wayde Egan at dummy half, who puts a kick in for Hiku to score…
Stats-wise, Murchie didn't play a great game but he did a role for the team in playing 60 minutes straight to allow Harris to stick in the middle. Then we take a geeze at Harris' stats and see that once again, Harris was a monster through the middle:
80mins, 17 runs for 189m @ 11.35m/run, 75pcm @ 4.41pcm/run, 42 tackles @ 97.7 percent.
I also scouted these examples of Harris playing a low key crucial role in Warriors attacking movements. Starting with Harris getting a quick play-the-ball for Nikorima’s linebreak leading to Katoa’s try…
And a splash of link-man passing in the middle for Peta Hiku’s destruction of Esan Marsters…
In the preview, my focus was tuned into Jason Taumalolo's tackle count and guess what? Taumalolo made 53 tackles and that was not only the most for any Cowboys player, it's the most Taumalolo has made this season. That led to Taumalolo's running output taking a dip, although completely respectable for middle forward plebs; 14 runs for 137m @ 9.78m/run. To put Harris' efforts into context, let's directly compare them to Taumalolo...
Tohu Harris
11.35m/run - 4.41pcm/run.
Jason Taumalolo
9.78m/run - 3.92pcm/run.
Taumalolo made his 53 tackles @ 96.4 percent which highlights a strong defensive game from Taumalolo. This was his first game back from injury and while that's a factor, he had the energy to make 53 tackles and miss just 2 tackles as the Warriors clearly put a target on Taumalolo in the middle.
Part of that involves Adam Blair and while everyone's quick to hate on Blair, he has genuinely been good for the Warriors. I especially enjoy the Harris/Blair combo in the middle as they both have mobility to aid their rugged defence, yet also use that mobility and footwork to make metres, plus they can pass and offload. Check out these stats from Blair in the last three games...
vs Dragons: 53mins, 13 runs for 122m @ 9.38m/run, 36pcm, 1tb, 29t @ 93.5 percent, no penalties conceded.
vs Panthers: 48mins, 10 runs for 91m @ 9.1m/run, 32pcm, 31t @ 86.1 percent, no pens.
vs Cowboys: 54mins, 16 runs for 157m @ 9.81m/run, 52pcm, 1tb, 1off, 27t @ 93.1 percent, no pens.
At this juncture, it would be rude not to highlight Jamayne Taunoa-Brown who looks at ease in the NRL despite being in his first season (good recruitment). In just 36 minutes, Taunoa-Brown had 15 runs for 178m @ 11.86m/run and also made 24 tackles without a miss. All the forwards were pretty solid and as a unit, they were dominant through the middle which is best displayed in King Vuniyayawa and Poasa Fa'amausili making strong contributions off the bench.
Vuniyayawa had 8 runs @ 9.37m/run and 16 tackles @ 100 percent, while Fa'amausili was a stand-out performer with his 8 runs @ 11.12m/run and 17 tackles @ 100 percent. Fa'amausili was a stand-out more from an eye-test sense though as he clearly looks faster than any other Warriors forward and combine that speed with aggression for a unique middle forward package. The Glenora Bears junior looks a bit smaller than the other forwards, but is listed at 188cm and that's the same as Vuniyayawa.
The idea of the Warriors making a pivot in their forward pack has been hammered home by the last few weeks. Suddenly Taunoa-Brown, Katoa, Fa'amausili, Vuniyayawa and Murchie have all made their Warriors debut this season and none of those four were legit in the frame this time last year, let alone by season's end last year. What do this five lads have in common? They are all big enough, super mobile and they all appear to love the work required to slug it out on an NRL field.
Kodi Nikorima running the footy? Here are Nikorima's running stats for the last three games...
vs Dragons: 8 runs for 120m.
vs Panthers: 12 runs for 73m.
vs Cowboys: 9 runs for 97m.
That is super duper crucial to Warriors success.
Less crucial but a factor nonethess was Tuivasa-Sheck having 2 dummy half runs for 23m. Although Gerard Beale (also low key solid) had a DHR, this still isn't quite enough for me and I'd love to see Patrick Herbert bouncing around the ruck but with Tuivasa-Sheck, Katoa, Wayde Egan and Karl Lawton all registering 2 DHR each, at least there is some action out of the ruck area.
Why is that important? Look at all the space behind the ruck on the play that Nikorima burst through to set up Katoa's try - remember that Nikorima pounced on a similar opening vs Dragons but from dummy half...
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Peace and love.