Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: The Friday Thing
An Aotearoa Warriors NRL season is often described as a rollercoaster and right now it feels more like a cyclone of all sorts of bits and bobs uprooted and blown all over the place. With that in mind, these Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan entries are going to be streamlined into a Friday thing where I'll chuck my Warriors cap on each Friday and delve into the Warriors world. Otherwise, I'm staying the fuck out of this cyclone.
Tomorrow night the Warriors face Brisbane Broncos and this will low key be a fascinating encounter between two shambolic teams. We all know the Warriors predicament and during the depths of the pando lockdown, I wondered and expressed how eager the Warriors will be in battling on if they suck - remember those first two games were exceptionally bad for the Warriors.
Funnily enough, that's exactly what has manifested and it's been escalated to even crazier levels now; why would any Warriors player want to be where they are with this context? Things have steadily got worse for the Warriors and it's been funny to see the same pattern emerge for the Broncos, only far more complex for the Broncos as they are a perfect case of holding on to past glory and everyone involved can't fathom that things change.
Two really mediocre teams in excessively niggly spots and I have a feeling that depending on the result, one team is going to slide even deeper into their holes they're currently in.
No Roger Tuivasa-Sheck for the Warriors and that's kinda good. Tuivasa-Sheck is an exceptional player and having a leader like Tuivasa-Sheck is ideal for the Warriors, yet we all saw the skipper express frustration in the loss to Melbourne Storm. I imagine that this is a nightmare for Tuivasa-Sheck as he is away from his young family and yet Tuivasa-Sheck is also the leader of the club who has to carry some of this shitty burden.
All of which feels like it's impacting his performances and the only way to view his suspension is as a positive. Tuivasa-Sheck is averaging 217m per game this season and that's good enough for his second-highest season tally as his 2015 season with Sydney Roosters saw him average 241m per game. Tuivasa-Sheck has averaged 200+ metres in each of the last two seasons (three seasons out of nine total) and there is zero correlation between Tuivasa-Sheck's running output and wins.
I reckon that's due to how Tuivasa-Sheck has been used at fullback and I'd also suggest that this is further reason to say ka kite to Stephen Kearney as it feels like Tuivasa-Sheck has been completely miss-used. While other teams have their fullback operating with freedom, ready to pounce on a dummy half scoot in support, or pushing with the footy to receive an offload, or simply in as much space as possible, the Warriors have Tuivasa-Sheck taking hit ups and stuck on the right edge.
The Warriors have been playing with Kodi Nikorima on the left, Blake Green in the middle and Tuivasa-Sheck on the right edge. Instead of Tuivasa-Sheck flowing with the footy, sussing out defensive numbers and taking advantage, he is literally used as a half who stays on the right edge where he might run, but usually passes and sometimes kicks. None of this is using Tuivasa-Sheck's primary skillset effectively.
Tuivasa-Sheck played a role in Patrick Herbert's no try early in the loss to the Storm and these early attacking raids felt more like the Storm pushing the Warriors wide, with covering defenders wrapping in behind to make the final tackle. That's great Storm defence, less Warriors attacking funk. However, what I'm interested in is the positioning of Josh Addo-Carr as Tuivasa-Sheck gets the footy here prior to Herbert's no try...
Same scenario, except it's the last tackle not the 3rd and Tuivasa-Sheck puts a grubber in. You’ll see that no one is pushing up to get a result from the grubber as the three outside Tuivasa-Sheck are a few metres back. The grubber goes straight to Addo-Carr and he boosts down the field and it's kinda game over from that point…
Both times Addo-Carr is there ready to cover all options. Tuivasa-Sheck didn't appear to suss that out though and something like this feels like it would have sparked some frustration, which only compounded down that right edge for the captain. Herbert did score down the right edge though, only when Nikorima wrapped around from the left and his injection of speed helped ease Tuivasa-Sheck's decision making as he only need to pass the footy on...
This is a version of Tuivasa-Sheck who has his second-highest average run metres, but no linebreaks. Tuivasa-Sheck has had 10+ line breaks in all but two of his nine seasons; his first season with three linebreaks in six games and 2015 in which he suffered the major knee injury with two linebreaks in seven games.
Tuivasa-Sheck also has no try assists after a reasonably impressive three-year run of eight try assists, another eight and then 10 last season. This is the second season in which Tuivasa-Sheck has not scored a try as well, the other being his first season.
That's right, Tuivasa-Sheck has no tries, no try assists and no linebreaks this season. To me, that sums up the Warriors.
Also summing up the Warriors is Blake Green leading the Warriors in support plays. Tuivasa-Sheck is no where in the top-50 and that's an issue in itself as I'd rather have Tuivasa-Sheck be the main support player every, single, time. However, the slowest Warrior in Green is the lead support geezer.
Ideally, the Warriors target Tevita Pangai Junior who defends on the Broncos right edge where Nikorima has operated. Pay attention to the way Nikorima, Green and Peta Hiku operate as they surely can't restrict a natural baller like Hiku to being stuck on the right edge, otherwise there could be plenty of attacking impetus thrown at Pangai Junior.
Pangai Junior is 42nd in total missed tackles with 18.
Pangai Junior has only played three games though and his average of 6 missed tackles per game is the highest in the NRL.
Tactics and plans don't feel as important for this game as this is more about effort, intensity and attitude for both teams. The Warriors can make a point of isolating Pangai Junior though, if they have some momentum through the middle.
This week Jack Hetherington comes straight on to the Warriors bench, good for him.
The Warriors have also signed an outside back named Junior Ratuva and it's got Peter O'Sullivan's style all over it as Ratuva is a dual-code prospect who can dabble in either code because his main attribute is being a high quality athlete. Ratuva came to Kings College to play 1st 15 from Fiji, then got a deal with Melbourne Storm (who continuously pick the best 1st 15 talent from Aotearoa).
Apparently injuries hampered Ratuva and thing are super funky in following his journey. Ratuva learned his craft with the Sunshine Coast Falcons Hastings Deering Colts team (Storm Under 20s in Queensland) in 2018 and having impressed there, he got promoted to the Sunshine Coast Intrust Super Cup (QLD reserve grade) in the same year and scored six tries in six games.
That smells like a recipe for success with the Storm, especially as they churn through wingers - both Suliasi Vunivalu and Addo-Car are likely to leave at the end of this season. The Storm bring wingers through and when their value goes up, the Storm let them cash in knowing they have more wingers on the production line. Ratuva didn't get that chance though and instead linked up with Canterbury rugby for the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season.
Now, Ratuva is with the Warriors and I don’t know what it means for outside back depth, Ratuva’s involvement this year etc.
All I know is that Ratuva is another example of dual-code excellence that is more natural in Aotearoa and the Pacific Islands than anywhere else in the world...
2017: 1st 15 rugby union.
2018: Under 20s and reserve grade rugby league.
2019: Mitre 10 rugby union.
2020: Signed by NZ Warriors.
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Peace and love.