Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Five Tips For The Bandwagon
NZ Warriors are on a streak of six wins and have won nine of their last 10 games heading into another delightful home game against St. George Illawara Dragons on Friday night. The Niche Cache has all angles of Warriors footy covered. The Monday newsletter dropping notes about the 'Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarriooooors' chant and more. The Variety Show podcast featured the distillation about finals atmospheres which Warriors are now comfortable with.
The Aotearoa Warriors Diary has broken down Warriors playing style and all sorts of information about the young wave simmering below NRL. We are all here to learn about Warriors footy and this AWD has five tips for the bandwagon which should be useful for all levels of Warriors fandom.
The Vibe
Fresh off the Women's World Cup, NZ Warriors footy is the biggest ticket in town. Meanwhile, NPC rugby games are played in front of empty stadiums and all of Aotearoa's Super Rugby teams would love to have 20,000+ people at home games consistently. Football and rugby league are boiling in the underground, already frothing over to wash away the status-quo.
Rugby league has attracted big crowds this year in Christchurch (Warriors vs Storm trial), Rotorua (All Stars), Wellington (Warriors vs Knights), Napier (Warriors vs Broncos) and Hamilton (Warriors vs Tigers). This has been sneaking beneath the radar all year and Warriors now take the momentum from this, as well as WWC buzz into their last two home games of the regular season.
Patience
Defeating Dragons may be another slow cooked feast. Warriors have grown into games all season long and usually give up an early lead before settling into their grind. Dylan Walker's injection off the bench around 20 minutes has offered comfort for the slow starts as he instantly changes the tempo and style of footy. The last three wins have all been tough, gritty encounters and Warriors absorb it before pulling away late to seal the win.
Ideally, Warriors are immaculate and Dragons may fall victim to a rampant Warriors team fizzed up on the ominious vibe of a cold, dark home game in Auckland. This group is patient though and they now have three consecutive wins in which they haven't played their best footy. But they have awareness of what will work to win at the end of 80mins; complete sets, kick long, kick chase, win early tackles and do it again, then again.
Luke Metcalf vs Te Maire Martin
Early in the season Luke Metcalf was out injured and Te Maire Martin started in the halves alongside Shaun Johnson. By the time Metcalf was fit and available, Martin had dipped out of the mixer due to injury. Now Martin is named to return in NSW Cup and this halves slot is the most competitive battle for selection in the roster.
The funky bit here is the variety of opinions of who should be the starting #6. Personally, I prefer Martin because of his passing and the mana he showed in the first four games. Martin popped up on the other side of the field defensively to chase blokes of cover a comrade and his tackling rate of 91.4% is a nudge better than Metcalf's 87%. Martin didn't miss more than two tackles in any of his first four games, Metcalf has missed at least three tackles in seven of his nine games.
Metcalf is fast though, he's offering consistent support for linebreaks and he showed a dash of class with his punchy kicks down the left vs Sea Eagles. Metcalf has also built his combination with Johnson during a winning stretch and he is highly likely to keep this spot for the Dragons game. Martin needs a strong performance in NSW Cup to add to his case for selection and if they are both healthy, coach Andrew Webster probably wants his best combo playing the last game against Dolphins before finals.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad & Tohu Harris
It's easy to overlook the influence of Nicoll-Klokstad and Harris, so don't be that joker. Harris scored his first try of the season against Titans and has now scored in three consecutive games, playing 70+ minutes in all three games. Harris averages 132m/game in the middle and leads Warriors for tackles, also tackling at 94.1% efficiency. Add his passing which offers a disguise for his runs and also leads directly to tries with four try assists and seven linebreak assists this season.
Nicoll-Klokstad is averaging a career-best 180m/game and his six try assists so far this season is already double his previous best marks. Nicoll-Klokstad is often setting up tries for Dallin Watene-Zelezniak on the right edge after taking one, maybe two runs earlier in the set to help Warriors march forward. The fullback swallows high kicks, mops up grubbers and is tackling at 86.4% which is a bit better than Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards' 81.5%.
Battle of Centres
This round there is an intriguing battle between Adam Pompey/Rocco Berry and Zac Lomax/Moses Suli. Pompey will probably line up against Lomax who has missed a few games recently but was playing right centre for Dragons, leaving Berry vs Suli on the Warriors right edge. The left edge for Warriors has not been as good as their middle or right edge but Pompey has performed well all season and if he can win the match up against Lomax, this will be a hefty boost for finals footy.
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 newsletter with bonus content. Sign up here!
Peace and love.