Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: Dancing With Dragons
Aotearoa Warriors face St George Illawara Dragons for the second time this season and as Dragons snared the victory in round tahi, Warriors will be eager to stamp their authority on the bottom eight. After defeating Raiders, Warriors bagged losses to Sharks and Rabbitohs in recent weeks which sets up this phase of games against bottom eight homies in Dragons and Knights.
These fixtures are always the most intriguing for Warriors as they try to settle into their whare as the best bottom eight team in the NRL. A loss to Rabbitohs didn't help that equation and losses to Dragons, then Knights would see Warriors dip into the darkness of NRL mangroves. The soothing reliability of nature suggests that Warriors will find a way to stay at the top of the bottom eight and that soothing reliability delivers a reminder that there are always NRL clubs who are worse than Warriors on the field, with more dramas off the field.
Would you rather be a Warriors or Bulldogs fan? No contest.
Tuck that away and enjoy the gratitude. The match up against Dragons is tricky though as they exist in the same 'top of bottom eight' pocket as Warriors and grabbed that round tahi win. Dragons offer a different style of footy to Warriors as they are a grizzly, rugged outfit who usually show up with physicality that many teams envy.
The team named for Warriors is fairly standard. Standard in terms of the same blokes named and also in how Tohu Harris is named on an edge with Jack Murchie in the middle. Expect Harris to play through the middle and while I have no idea why Harris is always named on an edge only to then play through the middle, it's as reliable as nature. In our Monday newsletter I highlighted that Harris is good at running the footy and good at passing.
Freddy Lussick gets another crack on the bench. When Lussick and Ronald Volkman were released mid-season by Roosters, this was spun as 'you can have Volkman but also take Lussick right now'. Warriors needed more dummy half depth with Wayde Egan out injured and as Taniela Otukolo has barely played reserve grade for Redcliffe, this appears to be another low key crafty signing.
Otukolo played 44 minutes off the bench for Redcliffe last weekend, after only playing NRL and U21s last year. Otukolo doesn't even have a Queensland Rugby League profile and while he has played reserve grade prior to last round, he definitely hasn't stacked up big-minute performances against grown blokes. With Lussick and Otukolo sitting behind Egan, competition for minutes increases and 19-year-old (!!) Otukolo can continue his development.
Lussick played 53mins in his first Warriors game, so that's useful. Lussick churned out the mahi in his stint with 41 tackles @ 85 percent, a couple dummy half runs and a cheeky long kick. Along with all Warriors juniors stuff, I have enjoyed Otukolo's rise from the fantastic 2020 SG Ball team to making his NRL debut straight out of U21s. Lussick is better equipped for NRL footy right now though, in terms of his workload and skillset as he appears to have the craft that Otukolo is learning.
Warriors are 16th for Post Contact Metres and are the only team averaging less than 500pcm/game.
Reece Walsh is 3rd for total errors and he has more errors than Matt Dufty, making Walsh the fullback with the most errors in the NRL.
Junior Warriors Mahi
Benjamin Kosi made his first appearance for Redcliffe U21s last round on the wing, alongside centres Eric Va'afusuaga and Ali Leiataua. That means three of the five outside backs were Warriors juniors from Aotearoa, while Zyon Maiu'u was also on an edge. As always we need to wait to see who actually plays this weekend but the Redcliffe U21s team named provides more learning and funk for Warriors juniors.
Kosi is now named at centre with no Va'afusuaga and Leiataua. Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo had previously played a game at fullback for Redcliffe Under 18s and is now named in the halves for the U21s team. Tome Poona played in the halves a few weeks ago and now Cowley-Lupo is named, which would mean two Warriors juniors from Aotearoa have played as halves for Redcliffe U21s. Prior to this season, Sebastyan Jack was the only Aotearoa junior in the halves after playing the U18s season and depending on where Jack is at (probably injured) there may now be three Aotearoa junior halves in the Warriors/Redcliffe pipeline.
Also in the U21s team named are the Kepu twins and Zyon Maiu'u. There is no point in jumping to conclusions about why players are in/out of this team or that team, just roll with it. The Kepu twins could end up playing reserve grade this weekend and they appear to have played three games each of reserve grade; no Warriors junior is named in reserve grade but some will definitely play.
Jack and Demetric Sifakula are the only Aotearoa juniors who have yet to play with Redcliffe this season. Tamakaimoana Whareaorere and Jacob Laban played most weeks for Redcliffe U18s. Cowley-Lupo has moved up to the U21 ranks alongside Va'afusuaga, Leiataua, Maiu'u and Lleyton Finau who have been consistent selections. Kosi is playing his second game in a row and Poona popped up for a game recently as well.
That's 10 Aotearoa juniors who have played for Redcliffe U18s/U21s this season, while Valingi Kepu and Otukolo have only played reserve grade which takes the tally to 12. If Jack or Sifakula had played for Redcliffe this year we would already have enough for a team (13) of Aotearoa juniors with Redcliffe. I'll get funky and chuck Rocco Berry into the mix to whip up a team of Aotearoa juniors with Redcliffe...
Fullback: Rocco Berry.
Wings: Benjamin Kosi, Eric Va'afusuaga.
Centres: Zyon Maiu'u (needed a centre), Ali Leiataua.
Halves: Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo, Tome Poona.
Middles: Kina Kepu, Valingi Kepu, Lleyton Finau.
Edges: Tamakaimoana Whareaorere, Jacob Laban.
Hooker: Taniela Otukolo.
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Peace and love.