Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Battling Through Excuses vs Bulldogs
The funky thing about the last three games for NZ Warriors is that there can be no drop off in the grinding mentality against Bulldogs on Friday night. Warriors endured a rugged patch of games in losing to Storm, Roosters and Panthers which saw them maintain the thread of competitive mana, but fall short in many areas against top-notch NRL teams. Warriors already have a win over Bulldogs this season and will deploy a stronger team than they did in the trio of niggly encounters, although Bulldogs will be eager to pounce on any lacklustre vibes.
Warriors weren't good enough to win against Storm, Roosters and Panthers. The baggy of excuses is deep and full of green Aotearoa vitamins, yet Warriors lost all three games. Those games offer foundations of development and adversity is brewing opportunities for growth. Demitric Sifakula made his debut vs Roosters through the middle and then covered Jackson Ford against Panthers, learning plenty of lessons. Tom Ale played middle and edge against Panthers. Two young forwards from the local scene elevating to NRL standards.
Freddy Lussick got hearty minutes against Panthers and continues develop behind Wayde Egan, giving Warriors two solid dummy halves to cover this position. Egan finished the game against Panthers at centre and along with the versatility of outside backs like Marcelo Montoya or Adam Pompey, forwards like Egan and Marata Niukore are plugging holes throughout the line up. Dylan Walker has the most versatile venom and he shifts back to his bench role against Bulldogs.
This yarn prior to the loss vs Knights highlighted Walker's rotation off the bench. No matter how Warriors started those games, the injection of Walker offered more speed and skill through the middle. Passing is a key trend of Warriors footy under coach Andrew Webster and while shifting Walker to the halves plugged a hole, it slowed down a fundamental aspect of Warriors footy.
Ronald Volkman isn't as good at tackling compared to Walker, yet he offers pure halves mahi. Averaging 370 kicking metres per game in NSW Cup this season, Volkman handles the long kicking as well as most of the short kicking. Volkman has a variety of kicks and this is aligned with Shaun Johnson adding more low kicks into space. At his best, Volkman can chip cheeky grubbers past the legs of defenders and his kicking mahi against Roosters in NSW Cup resembled the style of Sam Walker.
Rocco Berry has also been promoted after four games of NSW Cup this season and having endured the pandemic era, Berry pops up like a new signing. Keep in mind how Berry was recruited from St Pat's Silverstream 1st 15 and his steady rise through the ranks with Warriors lays out his pedigree. Berry was a fabulous 1st 15 fullback and his potential is obvious, although the Greytown junior has yet to showcase his talent at this level.
Scoring two tries in last weekend's NSW Cup loss to Bears is an easy nugget to grab. Berry also had two try assists in round for vs Bulldogs, followed by a try assist against Magpies and he's got an offload in all four of his NSW Cup games. Berry missed four tackles in the second loss to Bears this season, although he has only missed five tackles all season and 93% tackling is decent for a centre.
Most notably, folks get to see the Andrew Webster influence in Berry's mahi. Like many Warriors who rolled through the pandemic phase, Berry didn't command consistent selection through his NRL performances. In hindsight, it's pretty obvious that Warriors and individuals didn’t deliver their best footy during that phase. Coach Webster's influence has already been evident in the team's performances and how different blokes have developed, with local juniors Ale and Sifakula the brightest examples.
All of which coincides with Luke Metcalf's first appearance for NSW Cup Warriors. Metcalf played most of his NSW Cup footy with Newtown in the halves last year and is named at halfback this round. Te Maire Martin is still the leading halves partner for Shaun Johnson, then the Volkman/Metcalf combo is the leading halves pair for NSW Cup. Metcalf offers more versatility than Volkman and he could be an intriguing bench option depending on which bench lads are available.
Metcalf is no saviour though, nor has he played 15+ games of NSW Cup in any of five seasons. Coach Webster will probably give Metcalf ample time to build into his best mahi and if Metcalf is demanding a promotion, opportunities will arise through injury or suspension. Warriors are now third in NSW Cup and Bulldogs are one spot ahead of them, making this a funky test for Metcalf as the halfback.
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Peace and love.