Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Ready For Whatever vs Cowboys
NZ Warriors host Cowboys at Mt Smart on Saturday and with the SG Ball season all finished, the focus zones in on NSW Cup Warriors as they face Sea Eagles in Sydney on Sunday. Warriors won their last SG Ball game against Sea Eagles 20-10 last weekend to finish 9th with a 4-5 record.
This season has already seen Leka Halasima jump up to NSW Cup and Jacob Laban is named to start at edge forward for the reserve grade outfit this weekend. There isn't much more to say about the SG Ball group apart from tracking where these lads pop up in the coming months, especially any more youngsters who are given NSW Cup opportunities.
NSW Cup Warriors are 2nd with a 4-2 record after their 54-14 win away to Knights last round. Sea Eagles are 9th with a 2-3 record and they have Nathaniel Roache named as the starting hooker, lining up opposite to younger bro Paul who is again starting hooker for Warriors. Former Warriors junior Temple Kalepo was starting hooker for Knights last weekend.
The theme for this weekend is to be open minded about Warriors footy, be ready for anything. Local juniors Demitric Sifakula, Ali Leiataua and Zyon Maiu'u are named on the NRL extended bench which could impact their availability for a trip to Sydney the next day. They will probably drop out of the NRL squad when that cut is made later today and what Warriors do with Ronald Volkman in the NRL squad will also flow down to the NSW Cup team.
Eiden Ackland is named alongside Ben Farr in reserve grade. If Volkman isn't playing NRL he would benefit from another game in NSW Cup which would bump Ackland out. The niggle of a Saturday NRL game in Auckland and a Sunday NSW Cup game in Sydney will throw up some selection doosras, although Kalani Going will be there for sure in his edge forward slot as a leader.
Going has played 80 minutes in every game so far this season and he scored two tries last round. With three or fewer tackle busts in the first four games, Going has five tackle busts in both of his last two games and he has made a notable improvement since his last dose of NSW Cup footy with Mounties in 2018. Going scored one try in eight games with 76m/game with Mounties and he's now got three tries in six games, averaging 107m/game.
A quick Youtube search produced these Going gems as well...
The likes of Sifakula, Maiu'u and Laban have more upside than Going right now. Sifakula and Maiu'u have a power/mobility combination that is perfectly suited to NRL footy, hence they are already on the NRL fringe. Going is intriguing because he is a steady edge forward, more of a Jackson Ford type who gets through his gritty mahi and consistently shows up running tough lines as a hole-hitter or a decoy.
Be ready for anything in the NRL encounter. Coach Andrew Webster has named Dylan Walker in the halves, Freddy Lussick at hooker, Bayley Sironen at edge forward, Taine Tuaupiki on the bench and he has confirmed that Tohu Harris will play. Warriors are missing certified top-17 lads Te Maire Martin, Wayde Egan, Mitch Barnett and Marata Niukore.
Last round's loss to Knights was far from ideal, although Warriors showed grit in competing through adversity once again. The loss saw Sironen and Tom Ale play 40+ minutes for the first time this season to plug holes. Josh Curran played 80mins for the first time this season, while Tuaupiki was graced with his first appearance as a bench player.
The injection of Tuaupiki saw him play fullback with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad moving into the front line, playing as a half on the left edge. This kept Walker in the middle and the return of Harris could ensure that Walker stays in the halves, which then leads to intrigue about Tuaupiki's role off the bench. While Tuaupiki could bump Nicoll-Klokstad into the halves and Walker into his middle forward role, that feels unlikely given the amount of shuffling required.
Tuaupiki seems more likely to provide x-factor off the bench as a roaming runner, although who knows where he would defend. This is especially funky as Cowboys are 3rd for missed tackles and they have six players in the top-50 for missed tackles while Warriors only have Walker and Viliami Vailea. Greymouth's Griffin Neame leads Cowboys for missed tackles (4th overall) and he won't play this game, but Cowboys have other pockets to target.
Both Cowboys halves love a missed tackle. Chad Townsend is 29th and Tom Deardon is 41st, which along with Jeremiah Nanai (49th) provides weakness for Warriors to attack on the edges. Hooker Reece Robson is 40th and Jason Taumalolo is 44th, both of whom defend in the middle which presents weakness through the middle as well.
Tuaupiki's speed could be an asset against poor edge defence. More importantly, he will challenge the Cowboys middle defence after Warriors have worked through their game plan of challenging the Cowboys middles. Cowboys have struggled this season and they will be eager for drastic improvements, so none of this may be possible if Cowboys are at their best. There is a weakness to attack though and Warriors have a full quiver of styles to deploy.
The importance of Harris can't be understated. Averaging 113m/game and being a the key passer through the middle gives Warriors a reliable presence, especially alongside Addin Fonua-Blake. Harris also made 30+ tackles in all four games to start the season, never missing more than three tackles for an overall package of 182 tackles @ 96.3%.
A few things stand out with the centres Adam Pompey and Vailea...
Pompey has four try assists in six games this season, after four try assists in 19 games last year. This is already the most try assists Pompey has had in a season. His two tries so far has Pompey on track to beat his previous best mark of five tries. Pompey had no tackle busts in the first two games, then he had five in the next two games and his last two games feature a combined 10 tackle busts.
Walker was one of many Warriors to have their worst tackling games last weekend vs Knights as his five missed tackles took him from 12 to 17, thus joining Vailea in the top-50 for missed tackles. That isn't the status-quo for Walker but it is for Vailea and that's an aspect of his footy to improve.
Vailea has however exploded from 83m/game last year to 129m/game this year. Vailea scored seven tries in 10 games last year and he's only got one try in four games this year, although he's already got a try assist after just two last season. Any changes to the halves will impact the left edge for Warriors where Vailea resides. Ford is a steady presence but Martin, Volkman and Walker have all dabbled in left edge footy which clutters the left edge combination.
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Peace and love.