Aotearoa Warriors had a typically stink loss to Dragons and now suit up for a footy shoot-out against Titans. Dragons had the most impactful player on the field last week in Mikaele Ravalawa and their forward pack was more aggressive than the Warriors, also more disciplined in their gritty mahi. Warriors had some vibrant moments and were in the contest for much of the game, despite key errors.

Key errors that resulted in Warriors having 43 percent of the footy. Hard to win NRL games with that amount of footy and Warriors weren't far off a win, so this was not the worst Warriors performance. One other team had 43 percent possession in round tahi - Gold Coast Titans.

Titans put up 28 points in their loss to Eels (32 points). Six teams missed over 30 tackles in round tahi featuring Warriors (35 MT - 3rd) and Titans (31 MT - 6th). Both teams have years of evidence to suggest they love to score points without top-tier defensive nous, combine that with first round performances for a fairly even match up of mediocre teams.

Now is not the time to stress over team selection. Luck is always required in stacking up games with the same combinations in the NRL as injuries and suspensions impact selection. Players have already missed footy due to pandy things, shit will hit the fan at some point with Kyrie Irving type pandy things. Trials were scratched due to Papatuanuku and Ranginui flexing their power. Every NRL team will dip deep into their playing roster, Kiwi-NRL numbers will again blossom and Warriors will show up every week while also existing in two different countries.

Kick back and flow with the estuary. Warriors signed Jesse Arthars for depth and he gets his chance in round rua at centre. Viliami Vailea and Rocco Berry were given first crack at centre, ahead of Adam Pompey and Pompey now slides in as a winger, perhaps pointing to more clarity around his best position.

Reece Walsh returns at fullback, pushing Chanel Harris-Tavita into the halves alongside Ash Taylor. Like Arthars, Taylor was signed for depth and Warriors now roll out their second halves combo in two weeks. Far from ideal and that's the point. None of this is ideal but Johnson's injury is something that can't be controlled, nor is Dallin Watene-Zelezniak's injury. Warriors still have the troops to roll out a Walsh, Harris-Tavita, Taylor, Wayde Egan spine and that should be competitive against Titans.

What happened to Kodi Nikorima? Nikorima would be a starting half every week if he ran the footy, stepped up to grab key moments and consistently churned out a variety of kicks. Nikorima does that every few weeks at a very high level, such a high level that it's seducing.

Personally, I like Harris-Tavita's rugged style of footy. Especially in conjunction with Addin Fonua-Blake, Matt Lodge, Josh Curran, Jazz Tevaga, Bunty Afoa and Aaron Pene. Bayley Sironen is also on the bench this week and has natural baller abilities, without really impacting games thus far.

The majority of this forward pack has shown an intriguing combination of aggressive mana with natural footy instincts. Last year that was too far skewed towards self destructive aggression, this season feels a wee bit more polished. That's most evident in Kane Evans replaced by Pene.

As for edge forwards Euan Aitken and Eliesa Katoa? Both run straight lines (north-south), without much funk. Katoa is as robust as any other edge forward, also frantic. Warriors would shift to these two early in sets around halfway to find metres and set up the next play, while Katoa scored off a Johnson hip pass. That's a good place to start and they get more reps in these roles this week, although they don't pass the footy which can limit attacking flow.

Titans were one of two teams to have less than 400 Post Contact Metres. They were also one of two teams to have less than four offloads. That goes against the shoot-out vibes, yet Titans still jacked up 28 points through their attacking instincts. Was that the norm for Titans or will it prove to be a round tahi mishap?

Junior Warriors Mahi

No Warriors are named for Redcliffe Dolphins blokes in Queensland Cup. Taniela Otukolo, Junior Ratuva and Edward Kosi are all named on the extended NRL bench, both teams play on Saturday afternoon (NRL in GC, Dolphins in Redcliffe). Those three seem likely to drop out of the NRL squad and into Dolphins which could present two funky wrinkles: Otukolo's first game of reserve grade and further Ratuva progressions.

No Under 21s Dolphins footy. The U18 team has Jacob Laban starting at prop and Tamakaimoana Whareaorere on an edge. Laban appears to be getting middle reps which is a positive sign as his physicality groomed in Aotearoa (St Bernard's College in Wellington/Kelston Boys in Auckland) has seen him quickly move from edge to middle.

This week the U18s face Souths Logan who have Nathaniel Tangimataiti on their bench. Tangimataiti is an Ellerslie/Mt Albert junior who played in the 2019 Future Warriors before moving into the wider Broncos system.

Join the Niche Cache Patreon whanau to support our kiwi sports content straight up, get a karma boost and find extra podcasts.

Every Monday and Friday we fire off an email with bonus content. Sign up here!

Peace and love.