Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Round 1 Notes
The 2021 NRL season has started with a solid win for Aotearoa Warriors. Gold Coast Titans didn't appear overly threatening and while this win doesn't set up crazy Warriors hype, there's a decent platform laid to build upon. Let's roll through some quick debriefing notes.
Warriors completed at 91 percent vs Titans. Last season they were 4th best in completion at 80 percent.
Warriors threw 15 offloads. Last season they were 2nd in offloads with 10.7 per game.
First, it's kinda funky that the Warriors were top-five in completion and offloads last season. In theory these two don't blend well together - more offloads, more chances of errors. It appeared as though new coach Nathan Brown has these as core elements in the Warriors style.
We'll see how this develops, but there were early signs of a Warriors style and identity.
The beauty is that there is simplicity. Complete sets, move the footy, play direct and whack in defence.
Chanel Harris-Tavita will find his left-boot touch and when he does, hopefully he's still crushing in defence. There were signs of Harris-Tavita whipping his shoulders into tackles last season and most of his 23 tackles (1 miss) were impactful. These tackles weren't the catch and wrestle style of the middle forwards, these were genuine hits and it's pretty cool.
Harris-Tavita played on the left, Kodi Nikorima on the right.
Nikorima's try off a Bunty Afoa offload involved Harris-Tavita setting up right of the ruck, putting Afoa into a hole with Nikorima in support.
Nice variety and another style/identity thing here is support. The ball-runner goes hard, with support.
Bunty Afoa: 25mins, 8 runs for 82m @ 10.25m/run, 1 offloads, 14 tackles @ 93.3 percent.
Key here is that Afoa played all his 25mins in the second half. Afoa came on for Bayley Sironen in the 50th minute and almost finished the game; coach Brown saved the energy for the second half.
New season, new rules, quicker tempo, more fatigue ... same ol' Tohu Harris.
80mins (!!), 15 runs for 128m @ 8.53m/run, 2 tackle busts, 3 offloads, 43 tackles @ 89%.
And the same shenanigans in where Harris actually plays - which seemed to be over with Harris named to start in the middle.
Harris started the game on the right edge, with Sironen playing through the middle. Murdoch-Masila came on for Addin Fonua-Blake, with Murdoch-Masila moving to right edge and Harris in the middle. Harris appeared to finish the game on the right edge again, playing 80 minutes as an edge and middle forward.
I'm not sure where this all goes, I'm excited by the quasi-postionless options available to the Warriors (think NBA where the players of value can defend multiple positions). The Warriors can rotate their forwards because the likes of Harris and Sironen have funky versatility; ponder the challenge of defending Harris for 30mins and then Murdoch-Masila for 30mins.
This game also featured Jazz Tevaga playing a lot of footy at hooker due to Wayde Egan getting injured. Tevaga was decent and can plug this hole, while Egan had 5 dummy half runs for 43m (8m every time he scoots) and both these lads tackle above 90 percent.
So, the Warriors signed Addin Fonua-Blake huh?
56mins, 19 runs for 202m @ 10.63m/run, 5 tackle busts, 4 offloads, 22 tackles @ 95%.
Good start for Euan Aitken as well:
13 runs for 133m @ 10.23m/run, 16 tackles @ 94%.
Everywhere in this Warriors team, there is are splashes of speed, power, footwork and skill. Fonua-Blake, Murdoch-Masila and Aitken share these footy traits and while Sironen may not have as much of those traits, he is a versatile footy natural. Bringing these blokes into the group already there makes sense.
Everything kinda felt smart, logical and efficient. In tough conditions, the Warriors had deeper rotations to maintain their best work. They played fast, moved the footy and forced the Titans to keep coming out from deep in their own territory. This also felt like a home game for the Warriors.
Again, smart footy people are involved. In the preview podcast to this game, my comrade threw up some caution based on what NZ Breakers and Wellington Phoenix were going through playing in Australia. For the Warriors, they had a full season to learn from and they are in a very different position to the other kiwi teams in Australia based on what they learned. They also have more support in Australia than the other teams.
This Warriors group has stability in how their season is mapped out. They have organised their season in a way that makes it clear that management cares for their players and cheers, boos and 'Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarriors' chants rang around that Central Coast stadium; the Warriors have a home ground.
Peace and love.