Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Floating On A Mt Smart Vibe
Regardless of how the finals run ends for NZ Warriors this season, the win over Newcastle Knights at Mt Smart serves as a celebration of the 2023 NRL campaign. Warriors gave their fans a Mt Smart party which was rooted in their best footy as they flowed through their game plan, executed their key plays and nulified what Knights do well.
The win over Knights was a culmination of the season, including the home advantage of Mt Smart. Lots has changed for Warriors from last season but the most significant change was the end of the pandemic era which allowed Warriors to connect with their community and invigorate everyone in the organisation. For most folks, the pandemic ended prior to the 2022 season and Aussie teams played in front of their fans every week. For Warriors, the pandemic era ended when the 2022 season wrapped up. Now it's easy to see how important home advantage and community is.
Was that Redcliffe stadium ever rocking like Mt Smart?
In hindsight, NZ Warriors had no chance of making finals during the three seasons of the pandemic era. Boss man Cameron George offered insights into the intial difficulties of moving to Australia and somehow Warriors were expected to win during those three seasons. Folks assumed that the pandemic Warriors would be the same as the 2023 Warriors and if you pondered that, you're either an Aussie who doesn't care about Aotearoa or you're insane.
This bandwagon has foundations of connection with community. The buzz is palpable because rugby league fans in Aotearoa have been neglected while the grassroots stuff blossoms in Aotearoa. Fans want to celebrate their team, the team wants to celebrate their fans. That delivers a crowd of 26,083 at Mt Smart for an NRL Finals game with people from different cultures and different ages basking in happiness. This is the real Aotearoa.
Big crowds at Mt Smart isn't new though...
Perhaps the last few games of the season in which Warriors played tough, gritty footy in front of big crowds was helpful? Many viewed the Warriors performances as disappointing and yet they kept winning while not quite at their best. They kept drawing big crowds in Aotearoa and Australia to set the stage for finals footy.
While the mix of happy folks at Mt Smart was lovely, the footy joy came from a performance in which Warriors managed to come close to their best footy. Take Rocco Berry and Adam Pompey as a wee example, both of whom were better than their opposites in Bradman Best and Dane Gagai. Size, footwork, instincts and pure effort saw young lads from Greytown and Tuakau elevate for sensational finals mahi.
Another funky pocket was how the bench impacted this game. When Marata Niukore needed to come off injured, Josh Curran offers a seamless replacement. After a fabulous opening stanza, Dylan Walker emerges as a smaller, quicker, skillful middle forward who embraces the aggression and physicality of his core duties. Need bench energy? Jazz Tevaga is precisely that. Need a bloke who can cover hooker while also shining as a pure middle forward? Bayley Sironen does it all.
Warriors are in their groove when the centres are out-performing trendier opposition and the versatile/mobile bench provides energy. All season there has been a comfort knowing that the bench, led by Walker's consistent injection around 20 minutes, can change the game. When Warriors are already winning, the bench offers a faster tempo and this has steadily allowed Warriors to finish strong as they did again vs Knights.
Stats are always alluring in wins like this. Two stat lines stand out though...
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 32 runs - 297m @ 9.2m/run, 1 try, 1 try assist, 8 tackle breaks, 6 tackles @ 85%.
Tohu Harris: 25 runs - 228m @ 9.1m/run, 3 tackle breaks, 39 tackles @ 90%.
While Nicoll-Klokstad and Harris didn't hit the 10m/run mark, many Warriors did; Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Pompey, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Mitchell Barnett, Jackson Ford, Tevaga and Sironen. Two Knights averaged 10m/run. While wingers Dominic Young and Greg Marzhew valiantly churned through tough runs, the way Warriors dominated those runs early in sets was delightful.
Delightful because there is nothing better than Warriors dominating tackles at Mt Smart, also because it's the plan. It's been the plan all season. Warriors had to embrace the grind for large portions of this game, especially between 20-60mins. Shaun Johnson kept landing kicks around the Knights 10m line, Warriors won the early tackles, Knights kick, Nicoll-Klokstad mops up everything and starts the attacking flow.
As basic as it is, finding this groove is how Warriors play their best footy. Johnson is the only player in the NRL averaging 500+ kicking metres per game (518km). Nathan Cleary, Daly Cherry-Evans, Mitchell Moses and every other notable NRL half averages below 475 kicking metres per game. As a mark of the grind required to defeat Knights, Johnson had 627 kicking metres vs Knights and only played 73mins.
Warriors conceded 448 points in the regular season, giving them the third best defence. This averages out to 18.6 points conceded per game and Warriors conceded 10 points against Knights. No Warriors player missed more than three tackles vs Knights, meanwhile six Knights missed at least four tackles. The thread of Warriors trusting their defence has been present all season under coach Andrew Webster and this was part of their foundation for a glorious win at Mt Smart.
The whole Warriors baggy was on display. Warriors showcased their shape on both edges with plays keen observers have seen many times this season. Warriors also offered variations with Nicoll-Klokstad faking a pass to Niukore chopping back as he has done all season, allowing Nicoll-Klokstad to find space on the right edge early. Egan, Harris and Nicoll-Klokstad offered various plays around the ruck, using each other as decoys in the same shape to trouble Knights defenders.
Everything folks have come to love about NZ Warriors footy was part of this show. The characters, the footy, the community, the glow of Mt Smart. At least for a moment, maybe an entire Sunday and a few more days, this win will fill the hearts of Warriors fans. Kia kaha.
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Peace and love.