The New Zealand Warriors travelled to Australia to take on the Canterbury Bulldogs in the penultimate round of regular NRL season today. Aim: ruin Hasem El Masri's farewell party with an away win. Didn't work, though. Rather like their overall plans for the 2009 season.
A high scoring affair, 40-20, that had a bit of everything. 41835 adoring fans of El Masri's, tries aplenty, a perfect eight from eight conversions from the great man himself, offloads galore( particularly from the Warrior's in the second half as they played catch up). And a prop stealing an opportunity for El Masri to score a farewell try. Someone forgot to tell Jarrod Hickey that props are not supposed to run thirty metres to score, when he could have passed inside, for El Masri to get a perfect going away present.
Most of all, this was a day of celebration for the fourteen year veteran.A man that is the all time leading points scorer. And, a man that not only could kick goals, but knew how too find his way to the try line. One hundred and fifty nine times, in fact. Would have been one more if Jarred had passed the ball. Hasem sends his best wishes for the upcoming festive season, Jarred! A man of rare humility, a man of great integrity, a man that brings people of different races together. A great man.
For the first fifteen minutes, the Bulldog's hopes of sending El Masri out on a high were looking shaky. Despite a 2nd minute penalty to El Masri, they were down 4-2 and the Warriors were looking far the stronger of the two teams. Especially as Bulldog's playmaker, Brett Kimorley, had left the field early in the match with a suspected season ending injury. A fractured cheekbone which may also have damaged his eye socket. He gained this, as Jerome Ropati was on the rampage down the warriors left side. A head clash as Kimorley tried to effect the tackle. Ropati offloaded to Manu Vatuvei. Vatuvei only had one to beat, Luke Patten. The General, surveying his options for the upcoming battle, finds that there is not enough time to formulate a battle strategy as Vatuvei steamrolls his way straight over the top of the enemy, to give his team a 4-2 lead. Patten does live to fight another day however.
It looked like the Warriors were going to cause a boil over as they dominated the game for the next ten minutes. Not to be, this time. The Bulldogs, with an inspired Michael Ennis leading the way, gradually started to gain the ascendancy, first with a 19th minute David Stagg try. Then Josh Morris opened his bottle of form, and discovered it fizzing with a three try haul. Well, lucky him. All in the space of eight minutes, too. The third being of a very fortuitous nature. The Warrior's, having been awarded a penalty with one second of the half remaining, put a bomb up for Patrick Ah Van's wing. Ah Van got up high and batted the ball back. Problem was though, it was a Bulldog's player who scooped on the loose ball and passed to Morris, who sprinted ninety metres to touch down.
With the conversion, the Bulldog's had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead at the break. And so it proved. To the Warrior's credit, they did not give up and played their hearts out for the full eighty minutes. They added another three tries to their tally, to give Vatuvei a second and prop, Sam Rapira a rare double. Problem was, their opposition also added another two touchdowns to Greg Eastwood and the already discussed, Jarred Hickey.
It was never going to be enough though. The Bulldog's were a superior unit, although it remains to be seen how Kimorley's injury will effect their chances of progressing to the grand final.
In the end, though, the day was about El Masri. A man that through all the rugby league scandals of recent times, to his credit, has stayed out of trouble.
A fine career that, rightly, should be celebrated.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Stolen
Stolen
Thirty-six points go missing
New Zealand Warriors management, in conjunction with the NRL have called in the Parramatta police to investigate the alleged theft of thirty-six points, tonight at Parramatta Stadium. Warriors management have accused the Parramatta side of stealing the points, but Parramatta players have countered this with accusations of poor defence on the part of Warriors players.
In what turned out to be an easy case to investigate, sources from within Parramatta police have said that the only offence they will be charging the Parramatta players with, is that of being in possession of more than their fair share of ball over the first twenty minutes of the match. Parramatta coach, Daniel Anderson conceded that they could not defend this charge as the facts were undeniable. However, he did say that he was pleased that once they got hold of this possession, they used it in what he considered a meaningful way, and was sure their team's fans would forgive them.
In a twist of irony, the same sources have claimed that the Warriors players and coaching staff would be charged with aiding and abetting their rivals in running up an inordinately large score. Also, a charge of poor defence will be levelled at them.
Both lots of defendants are expected to appear in court on Monday morning. Warriors coach, Ivan Cleary, bristling with fierce indignation when told of the charges, claimed credit should be given to the Parramatta attack. While Parrematta's attack was good, experts say that this does not allow for a 40-4 defeat and that the Warriors defence of their defence will not stand up in court.
It is expected that, while all members of the team tried their utmost, most Warrior's players will come in for strong sentencing, but Manu "the beast" Vatuvei will survive with his reputation intact, after a strong showing, which included one try from a Stacey Jones last tackle kick. Sound familiar? While it is to be conceded that a try is a try, this appears to be the Warrior's definition of an attacking play. Their only one, all season, it seems. As one of historys great wits, Oscar Wilde, once wrote, "to define is to limit".
On the other side, while Parramatta did commit one of the seven deadly sins, Gluttony, during the first twenty minutes, at the very least they used it with an effervescent zest that was too net them three tries in that same time span. In the case of the first and third tries, they were both instigated by the best player on the field, Jarrod Hayne. Both times he severed the Warriors defence, to set up Joel Reddy and Matthew Keating, who both scored close to the goalposts.
With those and one other to Daniel Mortimer, Parramatta were already ahead, 18-0. Vatuvei got his touchdown in the 32nd minute. That was to be the Warrior's first and last joy of what was a soul searching eighty minutes. Up until then, there had only been one team in the match. From then onwards, there was only one team in it.
The remaining fifty minutes brought dividends for Parramatta, in the nature of four more tries. Except for one, the rest were converted by Luke Burt. Which will go along way to helping secure Parramatta a top eight birth. Before the match they had a points deferential of -46. Those conversions not only helped secure a large win, but brought the deferential back to -12. This will be crucial in their charge for a finals berth.
For the Warriors, they tried different playing staff, but it proved to be a case of another week, another loss. The season's end can't come soon enough for them.
Thirty-six points go missing
New Zealand Warriors management, in conjunction with the NRL have called in the Parramatta police to investigate the alleged theft of thirty-six points, tonight at Parramatta Stadium. Warriors management have accused the Parramatta side of stealing the points, but Parramatta players have countered this with accusations of poor defence on the part of Warriors players.
In what turned out to be an easy case to investigate, sources from within Parramatta police have said that the only offence they will be charging the Parramatta players with, is that of being in possession of more than their fair share of ball over the first twenty minutes of the match. Parramatta coach, Daniel Anderson conceded that they could not defend this charge as the facts were undeniable. However, he did say that he was pleased that once they got hold of this possession, they used it in what he considered a meaningful way, and was sure their team's fans would forgive them.
In a twist of irony, the same sources have claimed that the Warriors players and coaching staff would be charged with aiding and abetting their rivals in running up an inordinately large score. Also, a charge of poor defence will be levelled at them.
Both lots of defendants are expected to appear in court on Monday morning. Warriors coach, Ivan Cleary, bristling with fierce indignation when told of the charges, claimed credit should be given to the Parramatta attack. While Parrematta's attack was good, experts say that this does not allow for a 40-4 defeat and that the Warriors defence of their defence will not stand up in court.
It is expected that, while all members of the team tried their utmost, most Warrior's players will come in for strong sentencing, but Manu "the beast" Vatuvei will survive with his reputation intact, after a strong showing, which included one try from a Stacey Jones last tackle kick. Sound familiar? While it is to be conceded that a try is a try, this appears to be the Warrior's definition of an attacking play. Their only one, all season, it seems. As one of historys great wits, Oscar Wilde, once wrote, "to define is to limit".
On the other side, while Parramatta did commit one of the seven deadly sins, Gluttony, during the first twenty minutes, at the very least they used it with an effervescent zest that was too net them three tries in that same time span. In the case of the first and third tries, they were both instigated by the best player on the field, Jarrod Hayne. Both times he severed the Warriors defence, to set up Joel Reddy and Matthew Keating, who both scored close to the goalposts.
With those and one other to Daniel Mortimer, Parramatta were already ahead, 18-0. Vatuvei got his touchdown in the 32nd minute. That was to be the Warrior's first and last joy of what was a soul searching eighty minutes. Up until then, there had only been one team in the match. From then onwards, there was only one team in it.
The remaining fifty minutes brought dividends for Parramatta, in the nature of four more tries. Except for one, the rest were converted by Luke Burt. Which will go along way to helping secure Parramatta a top eight birth. Before the match they had a points deferential of -46. Those conversions not only helped secure a large win, but brought the deferential back to -12. This will be crucial in their charge for a finals berth.
For the Warriors, they tried different playing staff, but it proved to be a case of another week, another loss. The season's end can't come soon enough for them.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Warriors Season beyond Repair
A wise old sage once said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. Well, add to that the New Zealand Warriors propensity to give away a plethora of possession to the opposition. Whether it was on the first tackle or after they had done good work, making seventy metres in a set of six, only to spill the ball on the last tackle, against the Gold Coast Titans today at Mt Smart Stadium.
And the Titans gleefully swallowed the loose ball up. Used it well, too. Played the percentages. Sensible football. And, it paid off for them. Ahead 14-0at half-time, they used a strong tail wind in the second half to forge ahead to a five tries to two(30-10) victory.
The Warriors had the use of that same wind in the first half, but failed to put it to good use. As mentioned earlier, they constantly turned over possession. Gold Coast, delighted with this, forced the Warriors into goal line drop-outs on four occasions. After twenty minutes they had clocked up ninety more tackles than their opposites. And it told. Gold Coast had jumped to a 14-0 lead in the 20th minute, through tries to Anthony Laffranchi and Scott Prince.
The first was off a dubious call by the match officials. Prince had kicked on the last tackle and the ball had hit Russel Packer. Packer was deemed to have played at the ball. If he did, then the Sun orbits the Earth. Referees, Steve Lyon and Alan Shortall clearly had made a blunder. One flew east, one flew west, two flew into the cuckoo's nest+.
The Warriors kept the damage at fourteen points until half-time, which was a good effort considering the stupendous amount of possession Gold Coast had had.
The penalty count helped their cause. Four penalties in a row, and again the referees lecture was in evidence. It had seemed recently, that this most ponderous of activities had gone into hiatus. But, no, it's back. Old habits die hard.
The second half brought fresh hope for Warriors faithful. The penalty count kept going their way. And, finally they made an impact. It wasn't a bird, it wasn't a plane, and no, it wasn't superman. But, it was supermanu. And Manu Vatuvei can fly on occasions. He did it twice here. Both time times on the last tackle. Both times from pinpoint Stacey Jone's bombs.
With these tries and a conversion to the Kevin Locke,- playing at fullback for the first time this season - the score was back to a four point margin, 14-10. And that is as close as they got. Gold Coast then put on the afterburners to score three more tries. One to Kevin Gordon, who received a rather propitious tap back off a Scott Prince bomb to stroll over unharrassed, and a double to Mat Rogers, to bring his career tally to ninety-eight.
30 points to ten, and for those glass half full types who held out hope of the Warriors still getting to the top eight, they might well fill the glass right up and drown their sorrows. Any mathematical hope has now gone, and it is a season that has left everyone wondering what went wrong. It started so promisingly, but went pear shaped awfully quickly. Some will point to the loss of Brent Tate. And he is a big loss. But, then, last season they lost Wade McKinnon, who you could argue is just as valuable as Tate. And last season they made the penultimate of the season.
Others have blamed Stacey Jones. He has not been anywhere as bad as he is made out to be. In fact, he has played to a respectable level. Those criticizing him should first look at other aspects of the team performance, such as if there are decoy runners in operation and what angles they are running. One man cannot win the game by himself, and anyone who thought he was going to be the player of seven years ago and a saviour, were somewhat deluded.
Whatever the reasons, Coach Ivan Cleary, has now got seven months to analyse what went wrong and to repair the warriors ship. Because he must surely be feeling the pressure of extra scrutiny.
+ Idea from Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
And the Titans gleefully swallowed the loose ball up. Used it well, too. Played the percentages. Sensible football. And, it paid off for them. Ahead 14-0at half-time, they used a strong tail wind in the second half to forge ahead to a five tries to two(30-10) victory.
The Warriors had the use of that same wind in the first half, but failed to put it to good use. As mentioned earlier, they constantly turned over possession. Gold Coast, delighted with this, forced the Warriors into goal line drop-outs on four occasions. After twenty minutes they had clocked up ninety more tackles than their opposites. And it told. Gold Coast had jumped to a 14-0 lead in the 20th minute, through tries to Anthony Laffranchi and Scott Prince.
The first was off a dubious call by the match officials. Prince had kicked on the last tackle and the ball had hit Russel Packer. Packer was deemed to have played at the ball. If he did, then the Sun orbits the Earth. Referees, Steve Lyon and Alan Shortall clearly had made a blunder. One flew east, one flew west, two flew into the cuckoo's nest+.
The Warriors kept the damage at fourteen points until half-time, which was a good effort considering the stupendous amount of possession Gold Coast had had.
The penalty count helped their cause. Four penalties in a row, and again the referees lecture was in evidence. It had seemed recently, that this most ponderous of activities had gone into hiatus. But, no, it's back. Old habits die hard.
The second half brought fresh hope for Warriors faithful. The penalty count kept going their way. And, finally they made an impact. It wasn't a bird, it wasn't a plane, and no, it wasn't superman. But, it was supermanu. And Manu Vatuvei can fly on occasions. He did it twice here. Both time times on the last tackle. Both times from pinpoint Stacey Jone's bombs.
With these tries and a conversion to the Kevin Locke,- playing at fullback for the first time this season - the score was back to a four point margin, 14-10. And that is as close as they got. Gold Coast then put on the afterburners to score three more tries. One to Kevin Gordon, who received a rather propitious tap back off a Scott Prince bomb to stroll over unharrassed, and a double to Mat Rogers, to bring his career tally to ninety-eight.
30 points to ten, and for those glass half full types who held out hope of the Warriors still getting to the top eight, they might well fill the glass right up and drown their sorrows. Any mathematical hope has now gone, and it is a season that has left everyone wondering what went wrong. It started so promisingly, but went pear shaped awfully quickly. Some will point to the loss of Brent Tate. And he is a big loss. But, then, last season they lost Wade McKinnon, who you could argue is just as valuable as Tate. And last season they made the penultimate of the season.
Others have blamed Stacey Jones. He has not been anywhere as bad as he is made out to be. In fact, he has played to a respectable level. Those criticizing him should first look at other aspects of the team performance, such as if there are decoy runners in operation and what angles they are running. One man cannot win the game by himself, and anyone who thought he was going to be the player of seven years ago and a saviour, were somewhat deluded.
Whatever the reasons, Coach Ivan Cleary, has now got seven months to analyse what went wrong and to repair the warriors ship. Because he must surely be feeling the pressure of extra scrutiny.
+ Idea from Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Moon Shines Brightly as The New Zealand Warriors and Penrith fight out thriller
Joel Moon scored four tries. The New Zealand Warriors blow a twenty-six point lead. Penrith claw back that margin to be 32-all at the end of eighty minutes. And, ten minutes of pulsating entertainment in extra time, that ends in a draw. What more could one hope for?
And so it was. A match where Warriors fans would have been left scratching their heads as to where this attacking form had been for the majority of the season. Penrith supporters, on the other hand, would have spent the first sixty minutes wondering whether their team really wanted to play finals football this year.
Why, too, is it that once the warriors could not make the top eight, they suddenly found their long lost attack? Could it be that now that the pressure valve has been released, they find it easier to take the risks on attack? And, if so, is there a problem with mental toughness there?
A coaching issue looms.
It was a match that The Warriors led 32-6 and should have never lost. For sixty minutes they dominated Penrith in all facets of the game. They did the hard yards up the middle of the ruck initially, and, then, showed their attacking guile. None more so than Joel Moon, who got himself a hat-trick within the first thirty-three minutes. His second being the best of them, as he dived over in the left side corner with very little room to move. The third was the Warriors try of the day. After Manu Vatuvei had busted through the opposing defence, and headed off along the field in search of the meaning of life, he off-loaded to Stacey Jones who joined in the search. Five metres out from Penrith's goal line, the ball came loose and there was Moon to gather the loose ball and dive over under the horizontal bar. The meaning of life, after Kevin Locke had converted, was worth six points, it turns out.
20-6 ahead, which they held to half-time, and it looked like it was going to be their night. Continued too look that way too, for the immediate ten minutes after the break as Moon again crossed for his fourth try, shortly to be followed by Lewis Brown in the 51st minute. With Kevin Locke converting five from five, this gave them a 32-6 lead. Which you would generally consider this to be an unassailable lead. Wisdom would suggest that a team in this position would consolidate their position with some safety first football, concentrating on completing their sets of six. Not helter skelter football. This is The Warriors though. Instead they threw the ball around with gay abandon, with no regard for the end result. And that result came in the form of forced passes that needn't have been. Dropped ball and a failure to complete their sets. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, they certainly can be.
This gave Penrith more possession and the momentum started to shift. First, in the 54th minute when Shane Elford crossed, to give them a glimmer of hope.
Luke Walshe joined in the fun ten minutes later when he stepped neatly past three Warriors defenders to score next to the left upright. At 32-18, and fifteen minutes left on the clock, this is where the Warriors should have got their minds back on the job at hand. Instead, Penrith continued to force the issue to touchdown twice more.
32-30, now, with two and a half minutes left. Not the time to give away a penalty. Unfortunately this was not too be, as Stacey Jones caught Jarrod Sammut with a head high tackle. Michael Gordon stepped up and slotted the penalty for Penrith to level the scores at 32 a piece, and send the match into extra time.
The closest either team came to scoring, was in the 83rd minute when Lance Hohaia attempted a field goal. Not a bad effort, too. But, alas, it was not to be, as the ball struck the horizontal bar and bounced back into the field of play for Penrith to regather.
Numerous other field-goal attempts from both sides failed to find their mark, meaning the two teams played out the third draw of the 2009 NRL season.
With five rounds to go in the regular season, The Warriors have next to no chance of making the top eight, but if they continue to perform as they did for the first sixty minutes, they are going to be of nuisance value to teams trying to gain places five to eight.
And so it was. A match where Warriors fans would have been left scratching their heads as to where this attacking form had been for the majority of the season. Penrith supporters, on the other hand, would have spent the first sixty minutes wondering whether their team really wanted to play finals football this year.
Why, too, is it that once the warriors could not make the top eight, they suddenly found their long lost attack? Could it be that now that the pressure valve has been released, they find it easier to take the risks on attack? And, if so, is there a problem with mental toughness there?
A coaching issue looms.
It was a match that The Warriors led 32-6 and should have never lost. For sixty minutes they dominated Penrith in all facets of the game. They did the hard yards up the middle of the ruck initially, and, then, showed their attacking guile. None more so than Joel Moon, who got himself a hat-trick within the first thirty-three minutes. His second being the best of them, as he dived over in the left side corner with very little room to move. The third was the Warriors try of the day. After Manu Vatuvei had busted through the opposing defence, and headed off along the field in search of the meaning of life, he off-loaded to Stacey Jones who joined in the search. Five metres out from Penrith's goal line, the ball came loose and there was Moon to gather the loose ball and dive over under the horizontal bar. The meaning of life, after Kevin Locke had converted, was worth six points, it turns out.
20-6 ahead, which they held to half-time, and it looked like it was going to be their night. Continued too look that way too, for the immediate ten minutes after the break as Moon again crossed for his fourth try, shortly to be followed by Lewis Brown in the 51st minute. With Kevin Locke converting five from five, this gave them a 32-6 lead. Which you would generally consider this to be an unassailable lead. Wisdom would suggest that a team in this position would consolidate their position with some safety first football, concentrating on completing their sets of six. Not helter skelter football. This is The Warriors though. Instead they threw the ball around with gay abandon, with no regard for the end result. And that result came in the form of forced passes that needn't have been. Dropped ball and a failure to complete their sets. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, they certainly can be.
This gave Penrith more possession and the momentum started to shift. First, in the 54th minute when Shane Elford crossed, to give them a glimmer of hope.
Luke Walshe joined in the fun ten minutes later when he stepped neatly past three Warriors defenders to score next to the left upright. At 32-18, and fifteen minutes left on the clock, this is where the Warriors should have got their minds back on the job at hand. Instead, Penrith continued to force the issue to touchdown twice more.
32-30, now, with two and a half minutes left. Not the time to give away a penalty. Unfortunately this was not too be, as Stacey Jones caught Jarrod Sammut with a head high tackle. Michael Gordon stepped up and slotted the penalty for Penrith to level the scores at 32 a piece, and send the match into extra time.
The closest either team came to scoring, was in the 83rd minute when Lance Hohaia attempted a field goal. Not a bad effort, too. But, alas, it was not to be, as the ball struck the horizontal bar and bounced back into the field of play for Penrith to regather.
Numerous other field-goal attempts from both sides failed to find their mark, meaning the two teams played out the third draw of the 2009 NRL season.
With five rounds to go in the regular season, The Warriors have next to no chance of making the top eight, but if they continue to perform as they did for the first sixty minutes, they are going to be of nuisance value to teams trying to gain places five to eight.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Warrior's Season in Tatters
13507 Warriors fans turned up to Mt Smart Stadium today to see their team's season read its last rites. And, with an attack that was breathtakingly appalling in all its entirety, it was no surprise too see them and their last hopes of making the top eight go down to St George, 29-4.
Despite having an equality of possession, they did not have the attacking nous to frighten the St George defence. Time and again, they would attempt to circumnavigate the opposition defence, instead of trying to punch holes up the middle of the ruck.
Not only that, from the opening exchanges it was painfully obvious that the Warriors were having more than their share of trouble getting St George players to the ground in the tackle. St George, though, were able to off-load at will during the first quarter of the match.
Despite this,the scores were level at four-all after six minutes.
It only took five tenths of five minutes for St George to get on the scoreboard after Brett Morris regathered the loose ball from a Jamie Soward bomb, too dive over in the left corner.
The Warriors replied only three minutes later, when from a play the ball, the ball reached Simon Mannering who ran diagonally to his left side attack, before offloading to Joel Moon to cut back inside and level the scores. This was the end as far the Warriors scoring input went. They never looked like cracking St George's defence for the remaining seventy-four minutes.
St George put on two further tries during the remainder of the first half, a second to Morris and the other to centre, Chase Stanley. Both fine attacking efforts, both scored in the left corner as the Warriors struggled the close down St George's ability to offload in the tackle.
18-4 after twenty-five minutes, and it seemed that the Warriors were in for a long hard slog. They got it. Over the final eight minutes of the first half, they threw all they had at their opposition but could not find a way through the St George defence. The only time they could get over St George's goal line, Michael Luck was held up by a superb cover tackle from Darius Boyd.
By the end of the half, the Warriors had increased their offloads immensely
Unlike St George though, they were not effective and put no pressure on the opposing defence.
With half-time upon them and only fourteen points down, there was still hope of a comeback for Warriors fans. Despite a break by Issac John in the forty-third minute, that comeback never came. And never looked like coming, either.
The second half effort of both sides was infested with unforced errors. Other than a scintillating ninety-five metre dash from Jamie Soward, it was a dreary forty minutes of football.
Soward's try came in the 60th minute, after Ian Henderson kicked on the last tackle five metres out from St George's goal line. Soward gathered the ball on the full and propelled himself along the eastern sideline with great gusto to score unchallenged in the right side corner. To cap off his fine effort, he converted his own try to take the score out to 22-4.
A drop Goal to Soward in the 77th minute and a minute later, a first try of the season for Darius Boyd put an end to the scoring proceeding, not too mention the end of their top eight chances.
With six matches to play this season, pride appears to be all that they have left to play for. What started off as a highly promising season in March has turned ugly for coach Ivan Cleary and his players. Their once famed attacking flair has deserted them, it seems. While their defence has been more than adequate this year, a team that averages fourteen points per match in attack, is not going to be near the top eight, let alone near the top of the competition.
By the 80th minute, they had thirty-two time compared to St George's twenty. And yet, they didn't look like scoring. Problems aplenty, for coach Cleary.
And there was the usual lateral movement from them. Rarely did they attempt to go up the middle of the ruck and paid the price for it. While it may have been the game plan, Warriors teams have always been at their best when going up the middle of the ruck, before they go to the peripheral.
Before an improvement comes, it is imperative that they find their attacking brilliance. Perhaps it's in Penrith, where they play next.
Despite having an equality of possession, they did not have the attacking nous to frighten the St George defence. Time and again, they would attempt to circumnavigate the opposition defence, instead of trying to punch holes up the middle of the ruck.
Not only that, from the opening exchanges it was painfully obvious that the Warriors were having more than their share of trouble getting St George players to the ground in the tackle. St George, though, were able to off-load at will during the first quarter of the match.
Despite this,the scores were level at four-all after six minutes.
It only took five tenths of five minutes for St George to get on the scoreboard after Brett Morris regathered the loose ball from a Jamie Soward bomb, too dive over in the left corner.
The Warriors replied only three minutes later, when from a play the ball, the ball reached Simon Mannering who ran diagonally to his left side attack, before offloading to Joel Moon to cut back inside and level the scores. This was the end as far the Warriors scoring input went. They never looked like cracking St George's defence for the remaining seventy-four minutes.
St George put on two further tries during the remainder of the first half, a second to Morris and the other to centre, Chase Stanley. Both fine attacking efforts, both scored in the left corner as the Warriors struggled the close down St George's ability to offload in the tackle.
18-4 after twenty-five minutes, and it seemed that the Warriors were in for a long hard slog. They got it. Over the final eight minutes of the first half, they threw all they had at their opposition but could not find a way through the St George defence. The only time they could get over St George's goal line, Michael Luck was held up by a superb cover tackle from Darius Boyd.
By the end of the half, the Warriors had increased their offloads immensely
Unlike St George though, they were not effective and put no pressure on the opposing defence.
With half-time upon them and only fourteen points down, there was still hope of a comeback for Warriors fans. Despite a break by Issac John in the forty-third minute, that comeback never came. And never looked like coming, either.
The second half effort of both sides was infested with unforced errors. Other than a scintillating ninety-five metre dash from Jamie Soward, it was a dreary forty minutes of football.
Soward's try came in the 60th minute, after Ian Henderson kicked on the last tackle five metres out from St George's goal line. Soward gathered the ball on the full and propelled himself along the eastern sideline with great gusto to score unchallenged in the right side corner. To cap off his fine effort, he converted his own try to take the score out to 22-4.
A drop Goal to Soward in the 77th minute and a minute later, a first try of the season for Darius Boyd put an end to the scoring proceeding, not too mention the end of their top eight chances.
With six matches to play this season, pride appears to be all that they have left to play for. What started off as a highly promising season in March has turned ugly for coach Ivan Cleary and his players. Their once famed attacking flair has deserted them, it seems. While their defence has been more than adequate this year, a team that averages fourteen points per match in attack, is not going to be near the top eight, let alone near the top of the competition.
By the 80th minute, they had thirty-two time compared to St George's twenty. And yet, they didn't look like scoring. Problems aplenty, for coach Cleary.
And there was the usual lateral movement from them. Rarely did they attempt to go up the middle of the ruck and paid the price for it. While it may have been the game plan, Warriors teams have always been at their best when going up the middle of the ruck, before they go to the peripheral.
Before an improvement comes, it is imperative that they find their attacking brilliance. Perhaps it's in Penrith, where they play next.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Warriors Win- Only Six More and the Semi-Finals Beckon
The Warriors have kept their hopes of playing finals football afloat at the Sydney football stadium today, where they have beaten the Sydney Roosters, 30-24. After twenty-five minutes and down 18-6, it looked like their season was destined for a battle to avoid the wooden spoon. But, no, not this time. They fought back with some fine defence, and a attacking display, that, while not at their best, was a huge improvement on what they have produced over the previous two months.
For a five minute spell, early in the second half, The Warriors were forced to defend four sets of six on end. And, they did this with aplomb. This effort seemed to lift their confidence levels. After this, they gained momentum and looked to be in control.
Kicking early in sets to force Sydney City deep into their own half and dominate territory. Smart thinking. It was effective and forced The Roosters to use up energy getting out of their own half.
The Roosters opened the scoring in the 9th minute, after receiving a penalty, Frank Paul Nuasala charged for the Warriors goal line, managing to off-load to Willie Mason, who dived over despite the efforts of two Warrior tacklers. Craig Fitzgibbon converted to give his team a 6-0 lead.
And they soon doubled this with a similar scenario. For, having received a penalty for a Warriors player holding down in the tackle, they went up the middle of the field for two tackles, then spread the ball three wide to their left-side attack, with Ben Jones straighting the attack and diving over ten metres from the side-line.
Again, Fitzgibbon converted.
The Warriors had struggled to get into the game, but this changed in the 20th minute. Having received a scrum feed after a Roosters knock-on, they went to their left-side attack on the second tackle. Eventually, Simon Mannering received the ball, and rightly decided that it was of the utmost importance that he should score a try. And what do you know- he did. A mighty effort, with four defenders around him.
Stacey Jones converted and there was hope that The Warriors could still pull off a win.
That hope, however, took a short vacation , when in the 27th minute, The Roosters crossed for their third try of the afternoon. This time it was Mitchell Pearce creating havoc. Going wide to the left, Pearce threw a long ball to Tom Symonds, who found a meaningful gap in the defence and charged through it for a forty metre dash, ere off-loading to Pearce, who scampered away to touch-down. With the conversion, The Roosters were 18-6 ahead, and the ship that is The Warriors season started to take on water. Not a torrent, mind, but still, things were looking ominous for them.
Perhaps sensing that their finals chances were fast approaching a fatal end, it was time for a newcomer to shine. Issac John, debutant and Warrior number 154,received the ball as The Warriors spread the ball to their right-side attack. He surveyed his options, then with a speedy cognizance, decided the best option would be to throw a cut-out pass to Patrick Ah Van. Which, he duly did and Ah Van dived over in the corner. The try was not converted. But, it did give them some hope, being eight down instead of twelve at half-time, as this is where the score stayed for the remainder of the half.
18-10 at half-time. A disappointing place to be for The Warriors to be, especially as they had dominated possession with 58% of the ball.
Coach, Ivan Cleary would have been disappointed with his sides ball control in the first half.
So, pleasing for him that they held onto the ball in the 42nd minute. A massive boost to their confidence as they brought the deficit back to two with a converted try to big Manu Vatuvei. From a bomb. Sound familiar? Yes, but what you may like to know, is that it started from deep within their own red zone. And a splendid move it was too. Ropati made thirty metres, then off-loaded too Ah Van, who cut back on the inside and headed off on the diagonal. After being tackled, Jones put the bomb up. Ninety metres in three tackles. It seemed that, just maybe, the Warriors were starting to find where they had hidden their attack.
The old adage says, "defence wins matches". From the 44th minute through until the 50th, The Warriors proved this correct. They held out four sets of six. One after another. And, one, could sense that this was the turning of the match, The Warriors confidence was gaining by the set. Warriors fans would have been heartened to see their team playing with nous, kicking early, to play the game deep in the Roosters half.
Paid off too. For, in the 56th minute, Vatuvei crossed for his second try of the match. It wasn't converted, but all the same, The Warriors were in the lead for the first time, 20-18.
The Warriors had not won in Australia since their second round victory over Manly. In the 70th minute, it looked as this losing streak may continue when Symonds crossed for his second try. With Fitzginnon's conversion, The Roosters were ahead 24-20.
Enter Wade McKinnon. Having not been at his best since he came back from his knee reconstruction late last season, he decided that the rugby league world needed a reminder of just what he is capable of. Visions of the vintage 2007 McKinnon model came flooding back, as he stepped off his left foot too beat two defenders. Not just content with this, he roared off along his field of dreams, dreaming of a spectacular ninety metre effort. Not just a dream. They, it seems, can come true. While temporarily harassed by a defender on half-way, he easily brushed off this minor distraction, and raced off to score ten metres wide of the right hand upright. Jones converted.
26-24, and only five minutes to defend their lead.
Not only did they do that. They increased it as well. Stacey Jones touching down in the corner, after gathering the loose ball from a desperate late Roosters attack.
30-24 to the Warriors and they live to fight another day. It was a much improved performance on attack from The Warriors, although one must take into account that were playing the lowest ranked team.
Debutant, Issac John showed enough to suggest that he will play alot more first grade in the future. He looked capable of busting the line on numerous occasions and off-loading. His decision making was as good as any seen in the number six jersey for the warriors for some time. And, that pass to Ah Van, showed that he does have the vision too potentially succeed in the position.
Another positive was the long range try of Wade McKinnon's. Maybe this will catapult him back into the attacking weapon that he was in 2007.
With a back three of McKinnon, Vatuvei and Kevin Locke all at their attacking best, the attacking potential is mouth-watering.
What is not so mouth-watering is the continual turning over of ball to the opposition. Bizarrely, good ball control would seem too be a vital component for winning a football match. Egad. As would not off-loading in the tackle to a player in a worse position than the player off-loading.
But, there is still hope for The Warriors.
Only six wins from six matches in the remainder of the regular season and they can start planning an assault on finals football.
For a five minute spell, early in the second half, The Warriors were forced to defend four sets of six on end. And, they did this with aplomb. This effort seemed to lift their confidence levels. After this, they gained momentum and looked to be in control.
Kicking early in sets to force Sydney City deep into their own half and dominate territory. Smart thinking. It was effective and forced The Roosters to use up energy getting out of their own half.
The Roosters opened the scoring in the 9th minute, after receiving a penalty, Frank Paul Nuasala charged for the Warriors goal line, managing to off-load to Willie Mason, who dived over despite the efforts of two Warrior tacklers. Craig Fitzgibbon converted to give his team a 6-0 lead.
And they soon doubled this with a similar scenario. For, having received a penalty for a Warriors player holding down in the tackle, they went up the middle of the field for two tackles, then spread the ball three wide to their left-side attack, with Ben Jones straighting the attack and diving over ten metres from the side-line.
Again, Fitzgibbon converted.
The Warriors had struggled to get into the game, but this changed in the 20th minute. Having received a scrum feed after a Roosters knock-on, they went to their left-side attack on the second tackle. Eventually, Simon Mannering received the ball, and rightly decided that it was of the utmost importance that he should score a try. And what do you know- he did. A mighty effort, with four defenders around him.
Stacey Jones converted and there was hope that The Warriors could still pull off a win.
That hope, however, took a short vacation , when in the 27th minute, The Roosters crossed for their third try of the afternoon. This time it was Mitchell Pearce creating havoc. Going wide to the left, Pearce threw a long ball to Tom Symonds, who found a meaningful gap in the defence and charged through it for a forty metre dash, ere off-loading to Pearce, who scampered away to touch-down. With the conversion, The Roosters were 18-6 ahead, and the ship that is The Warriors season started to take on water. Not a torrent, mind, but still, things were looking ominous for them.
Perhaps sensing that their finals chances were fast approaching a fatal end, it was time for a newcomer to shine. Issac John, debutant and Warrior number 154,received the ball as The Warriors spread the ball to their right-side attack. He surveyed his options, then with a speedy cognizance, decided the best option would be to throw a cut-out pass to Patrick Ah Van. Which, he duly did and Ah Van dived over in the corner. The try was not converted. But, it did give them some hope, being eight down instead of twelve at half-time, as this is where the score stayed for the remainder of the half.
18-10 at half-time. A disappointing place to be for The Warriors to be, especially as they had dominated possession with 58% of the ball.
Coach, Ivan Cleary would have been disappointed with his sides ball control in the first half.
So, pleasing for him that they held onto the ball in the 42nd minute. A massive boost to their confidence as they brought the deficit back to two with a converted try to big Manu Vatuvei. From a bomb. Sound familiar? Yes, but what you may like to know, is that it started from deep within their own red zone. And a splendid move it was too. Ropati made thirty metres, then off-loaded too Ah Van, who cut back on the inside and headed off on the diagonal. After being tackled, Jones put the bomb up. Ninety metres in three tackles. It seemed that, just maybe, the Warriors were starting to find where they had hidden their attack.
The old adage says, "defence wins matches". From the 44th minute through until the 50th, The Warriors proved this correct. They held out four sets of six. One after another. And, one, could sense that this was the turning of the match, The Warriors confidence was gaining by the set. Warriors fans would have been heartened to see their team playing with nous, kicking early, to play the game deep in the Roosters half.
Paid off too. For, in the 56th minute, Vatuvei crossed for his second try of the match. It wasn't converted, but all the same, The Warriors were in the lead for the first time, 20-18.
The Warriors had not won in Australia since their second round victory over Manly. In the 70th minute, it looked as this losing streak may continue when Symonds crossed for his second try. With Fitzginnon's conversion, The Roosters were ahead 24-20.
Enter Wade McKinnon. Having not been at his best since he came back from his knee reconstruction late last season, he decided that the rugby league world needed a reminder of just what he is capable of. Visions of the vintage 2007 McKinnon model came flooding back, as he stepped off his left foot too beat two defenders. Not just content with this, he roared off along his field of dreams, dreaming of a spectacular ninety metre effort. Not just a dream. They, it seems, can come true. While temporarily harassed by a defender on half-way, he easily brushed off this minor distraction, and raced off to score ten metres wide of the right hand upright. Jones converted.
26-24, and only five minutes to defend their lead.
Not only did they do that. They increased it as well. Stacey Jones touching down in the corner, after gathering the loose ball from a desperate late Roosters attack.
30-24 to the Warriors and they live to fight another day. It was a much improved performance on attack from The Warriors, although one must take into account that were playing the lowest ranked team.
Debutant, Issac John showed enough to suggest that he will play alot more first grade in the future. He looked capable of busting the line on numerous occasions and off-loading. His decision making was as good as any seen in the number six jersey for the warriors for some time. And, that pass to Ah Van, showed that he does have the vision too potentially succeed in the position.
Another positive was the long range try of Wade McKinnon's. Maybe this will catapult him back into the attacking weapon that he was in 2007.
With a back three of McKinnon, Vatuvei and Kevin Locke all at their attacking best, the attacking potential is mouth-watering.
What is not so mouth-watering is the continual turning over of ball to the opposition. Bizarrely, good ball control would seem too be a vital component for winning a football match. Egad. As would not off-loading in the tackle to a player in a worse position than the player off-loading.
But, there is still hope for The Warriors.
Only six wins from six matches in the remainder of the regular season and they can start planning an assault on finals football.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
40/20
Here's an idea. You see, in rugby league there is a rule called the 40/20. That is, if a member of one team kicks the ball from within his own forty metre zone and it lands inside the field of play and rolls over the sideline within the oppositions twenty metre zone, the kickers team gets the feed to the ensuing scrum. That scrum must be in line with where the ball went out, and be twenty metres in from touch. Now, someone recently said that the best place to have a scrum feed on attack is either by the sideline, or nearer the middle of the field. Fair enough. Can't argue with that. Makes a lot of sense.
So, how about this. If a team gets a 40/20, they get to choose where they have the scrum. They can have the scrum anywhere from the sideline across to the middle of the field, in line with where the ball went out. This gives a team added incentive to use the skill of kicking and would encourage teams to come up with attacking plays from the scrum. At the moment there is very little blindside. Giving them the option of having a scrum towards the middle of the field gives them more room to work with and more attacking options. And, it would encourage teams to look at their options, in terms of which side of the field suits them best to achieve a 40/20.
This all has got to be a good thing, especially in the modern era, when league defences can be all encompassing at times.
So, how about this. If a team gets a 40/20, they get to choose where they have the scrum. They can have the scrum anywhere from the sideline across to the middle of the field, in line with where the ball went out. This gives a team added incentive to use the skill of kicking and would encourage teams to come up with attacking plays from the scrum. At the moment there is very little blindside. Giving them the option of having a scrum towards the middle of the field gives them more room to work with and more attacking options. And, it would encourage teams to look at their options, in terms of which side of the field suits them best to achieve a 40/20.
This all has got to be a good thing, especially in the modern era, when league defences can be all encompassing at times.
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