The finals flame still flickers for New Zealand Warriors after their win vs Tigers and as we roll through round 21 of NRL footy, only four points separates NZW in 12th and Sea Eagles in fifth. This will change as soon as Saturday's games swing around but the general premise of a few points being the difference between eight, maybe 10 teams competing for the finals mix is still an enticing idea for NZW fans.

NZW didn't play like a certified finals team and that's alright. They got the win, two points in the bag and they drew another monster crowd at Mt Smart. According to Aus Stadiums, the average crowd at Mt Smart this season is 23,684 and there are only two NRL stadiums in Australia that average more than Mt Smart; Suncorp Stadium on 36,815 and Allianz Stadium on 23,795 (as of Saturday the 27th morning).

These three stadiums are the only NRL venues averaging more than 22,000 folks in attendance. The Mt Smart average is an increase on 22,740 in 2023. The combination of culture, ages, signs, spidermen and entertainment is glorious. This is the envy of every New Zealand sports franchise and Aussies don't seem to be aware of rugby league's standing in Aotearoa as most NRL teams based in Australia would be wise to tap in.

Tigers are at the bottom of the ladder but coach Benji Marshall showed some nifty ploys to slow down NZW. Every so often, a player will swipe at the arms of the dummy half as the leave the ruck. It doesn't usually happen as often as it did in this game though as Tigers showed a possible blueprint to limit Wayde Egan's influence at hooker, constantly disrupting his service and play-making around the ruck.

This also happened in the NSW Cup game where NZW lost to Magpies with a Magpies player swiping at hooker Makaia Tafua and he received a penalty for that. NRL referees tend to make up rules and interpretations of rules during games, so who knows what the rules are in but Tigers effectively disrupted Egan's mahi.

Coach Marshall also ensured that Tigers crammed their defensive line together, working as a unit when defending Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. This limited the impact of Tuivasa-Sheck's footwork and Tigers stayed disciplined with their defensive spacing, to the point where NZW were eventually able to find space out on the edges. NZW had no issues rolling forward with power but Tigers managed to slow the NZW roll in different phases of the game.

Given how important Egan's service and running mahi in the early-set tackles is for NZW, credit to Aotearoa's Marshall for his coaching. NZW haven't shown slick attack outside of the win over Rabbitohs this season and small details like this from coach Marshall compounded on top of the clunky motions of 2024 for NZW. Then again, the most important thing for this game was getting the win and NZW did just that.

The media's fetish for Shaun Johnson's importance to NZW has switched to a focus on Tuivasa-Sheck with Johnson out injured. Tuivasa-Sheck is a good fullback because he's a good footy player and he played his role nicely against Tigers, although Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad has done similar mahi for NZW at fullback without the same buzz.

NZW have maintained elite kick return metres throughout the season regardless of who is at fullback, with Taine Tuaupiki shining in his stints at fullback this season as well. Tuivasa-Sheck mopped up a bunch of kicks against Tigers and that's precisely what makes Nicoll-Klokstad so good at fullback, to the point that he churned out excessive mahi for Aotearoa Kiwis in their win over Australia last year.

This is relevant because Tuivasa-Sheck's name drives NZW content in Aotearoa media. Despite Tuivasa-Sheck and coach Andrew Webster consistently stating that he joined NZW to play his role in the system with a focus on learning the centre position, media folks want Tuivasa-Sheck to play a bigger role. The most impressive thing about Tuivasa-Sheck's return to NZW is how he has done whatever the team needs; Tuivasa-Sheck has started at least two games at fullback, wing and centre this season.

Upon his return to the NRL, Tuivasa-Sheck has established himself as one of the best outside backs in the competition by playing at his typically high level in three different positions. Tuivasa-Sheck is averaging 192m/game this season in three different roles and another indicator of his mana is that this is his first NRL season making 110+ tackles and tackling with at least 78 percent efficiency; 133 tackles @ 82.6% this season.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak playing on the wing is the only pocket of the back five vs Tigers that featured in full strength NZW teams. Four of the back five vs Tigers were depth options so keep that in mind when pondering this performance. Ali Leiataua and Edward Kosi were solid in their returns to the NRL, but Moala Graham-Taufa has emerged as the most notable youngster in the fringe NRL crew.

Graham-Taufa was the fastest NZW against Tigers and this means he provides the speed that NZW have lacked all season, outside of the zip of Tuaupiki. This was on display when Graham-Taufa played his first game for NZW in the second-tier team's win over Dolphins, then he flashed his speed through the win over Tigers. Graham-Taufa speeds into the collision, then bursts out of marker to make effort players and he zoomed down the sideline to set up Watene-Zelezniak's try.

There isn't much difference between Graham-Taufa, Leiataua and Rocco Berry right now. The main difference is Graham-Taufa's speed, otherwise they have all looked comfortable in the NRL this season and behind these three are the two freaky talents in Sio Kali and Motu Pasikala. Graham-Taufa seems to impact winning though and his return to Aotearoa is another example of nifty NZW recruitment.

NZW rolled out a better kicking performance than their last two wins. Chanel Harris-Tavita handled most of the kicking with his long kicks consistently landing on the Tigers' 10m line, while he and Te Maire Martin both had a forced droppie with no kicks that went dead. The two halves also combined nicely in attack as they showed different looks for three tries down the left edge...

After Tuivasa-Sheck made his break, Harris-Tavita and Martin were the only players who touched the footy to get it to Watene-Zelezniak. Graham-Taufa was already waiting out on the sideline and the halves quickly organised matters to move the ball to space...

The vibe was clunky but there was nothing clunky about the tries NZW scored. They rolled through different shapes on the left for three tries, moved the footy from sideline to sideline with three passes for the Watene-Zelezniak's try and Dylan Walker offered clinical mahi at dummy half for Addin Fonua-Blake's try.

NZW forwards did their job against Tigers and aside from the ease of Fonua-Blake's metre eating, there wasn't anything crazy about NZW forward pack mahi. Kurt Capewell had a few mishaps in the period when Tigers scored two tries, but Jazz Tevaga conceded two penalties in this phase as well and the last Tigers try came after NZW conceded two set restarts then a penalty. All season the more experienced players have found ways to concede penalties and that's a sneaky factor in where NZW are at on the ladder.

Tigers also scored two tries when Leka Halasima was on the field, which was only 9mins. Halasima had no runs and made all four of his tackles, once again having stints in the middle and on the right edge. These two Tigers tries didn't directly involve Halasima and this seems more of a coincidence than anything, but coach Webster was quick to bring Walker back on in place of Halasima after Halasima came on for Walker a few minutes prior.

The NSW Cup loss to Magpies was pesky and probably serves as a humbling experience which could be good for their push into finals footy. Having seen Pasikala kick goals from sidelines, easily covering the distance required, something was off in this game as Pasikala struggled for distance with three sideline conversions. NZW lost by six points and Pasikala missed all three conversions, something that doesn't usually happen for a youngster who was kicking at 81.8% prior to this game.

The most interesting nugget from the NSW Cup Warriors was Linwood junior from Christchurch Makaia Tafua at dummy half and lock. Tafua played 75mins in the middle with most of that spent at dummy half where he had 5 dummy half runs - 49m @ 9.8m/run, as part of his 8 runs - 92m @ 11.5m/run and 45 tackles @ 88.2% efficiency.

Unfortunately for NZW and Caleb Laiman, the minutes when Laiman played dummy half weren't as flash. Laiman played 30mins and his presence was useful given that he covers halves and hooker, having played both roles for NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Warriors, which helped Paul Roache ease back into footy with 50mins.

NZW struggled without Roache on the field in the last stanza of this game and along with Jacob Laban, Laiman had a bad defensive effort in the middle for the winning Tigers try. That's all a learning zone for Laiman and the NSW Cup Warriors but Tafua's rugged defence, powerful running and crafty mahi around the ruck has been a notable wrinkle all season for the reserve graders.

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