Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Big Crowds & Tough Wins
NZ Warriors have won seven games in a row and 10 of their last 11 games after defeating Dragons at Mt Smart on Friday night. Since defeating Raiders in golden point, the Aotearoa Warriors Diary and Niche Cache podcasts have included numerous ponderings about Warriors storming into finals playing razzle dazzle footy vs grinding out gritty wins to win by any means. The 18-6 win over Dragons was another grind and the fourth game in a row where Warriors have won without sniffing their best footy.
Tough wins in front of big crowds seems helpful for finals footy. Warriors drew in 25,095 folks for their latest win and this was the biggest crowd at Mt Smart so far this season, but not quite as big as the crowd of 25,118 who turned out in Hamilton for the win over Tigers. Add in the 24,112 who showed up for the win over Sea Eagles and Warriors have played their last three games in front of the three biggest crowds for Warriors games in Aotearoa this season.
This must count for something ahead of finals footy. Warriors are used to big crowds now, it's the status-quo. Big crowds also highlights the home advantage that folks conveniently overlooked during the pandemic and given the style of footy played in the last three wins, bumper crowds have helped Warriors find extra juice late in games to seal wins. The win over Titans wasn't played in Aotearoa, yet the Gold Coast faithful rallied behind Warriors to help them win a niggly encounter.
Coaches and players will want better performances. They will do their mahi to assess themselves and make improvements. The AWD is here to break things down and tough wins in front of big crowds genuinely feels useful at this stage of the season. Especially when chaos unfurls and Warriors have to adjust to injuries as they did against Dragons.
Rocco Berry played 31 minutes and Luke Metcalf played 41 minutes in the backline, both suffered injuries. Dylan Walker covered Metcalf's absence in the halves and the loss of Berry saw Jackson Ford slot into his usual left edge role, while Marata Niukore and Josh Curran plugged holes on the right edge. Warriors have strong depth in every position which stretches deep into their NSW Cup roster and the ability to cover various roles during the game is an asset.
Even Freddy Lussick got minutes as a middle forward late in the game with Wayde Egan playing 80mins at hooker. Lussick had 5 runs - 50m @ 10m/run and his ability to play the smaller middle forward role could be crucial in a finals game. Bayley Sironen continues to shine as a do-it-all bench lad as well, covering middle and edge against Dragons.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Addin Fonua-Blake and Tohu Harris were the best players on the field. Nicoll-Klokstad didn't miss a tackle, snuffing out a Moses Suli linebreak and Jacob Liddle's near try, as well as mopping up kicks with ease. Nicoll-Klokstad genuinely impacts games without the footy and this came in contrast to Tyrell Sloan who doesn't play much defence.
It's easy to see Fonua-Blake's excellence as he rolls through the middle in the same way it is easy to highlight Shaun Johnson's plays when he's sizzling. Those two help Warriors win, for sure. Warriors win consistently because they also have Nicoll-Klokstad influencing games with and without the footy, along with Harris. Never overlook Harris.
Harris played 80mins vs Dragons and was just as effective running the footy as Fonua-Blake, also offering 22 passes and 42 tackles. Harris is averaging 136m/run which is his second best season running the footy (173m/game in 2020) and his 770 tackles made is on track to pass 800 tackles for the fourth season in his career.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 24 runs - 218m @ 9m/run, 1 try, 1 linebreak assist, 9 tb, 1 offload, 5 tackles @ 100%
Addin Fonua-Blake: 22 runs - 226m @ 10.2m/run, 3 tb, 2 offloads, 27 tackles @ 90%
Tohu Harris: 20 runs - 202m @ 10.1m/run, 3 tb, 1 offload, 42 tackles @ 87.5%
A good gauge for Warriors footy is Egan's activity around the ruck. If Egan can scoot from dummy half, then Warriors should be able to punch holes in the defensive line. Egan started scooting early against Dragons, drifting either side of the ruck and pouncing on any lapses. This is aligned with how easy Fonua-Blake and Harris made metres through the middle. Egan's five tries and 50m/game are career-high marks, while five try assists is second to eight in 2021.
In NSW Cup, Warriors defeated Dragons 42-12. Te Maire Martin played 51mins and grabbed two try assists with a linebreak in that stint, also making 11 tackles @ 100%. Martin was subbed off for utility Maia Sands and Warriors may have played Sands in the halves, or Paul Roache with Michael Sio covering hooker.
NSW Cup line up...
Fullback: Taine Tuaupiki
Wingers: Edward Kosi, Ben Farr
Centres: Patrick Moimoi (SGB), Brayden Wiliame
Halves: Ronald Volkman, Te Maire Martin
Middles: James Gavet, Tanner Stowers-Smith (SGB), Tom Ale
Edges: Kalani Going, Jacob Laban (SGB)
Hooker: Paul Roache
Bench: Zyon Maiu'u, Michael Sio, Isaiah Vagana, Maia Sands
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