Vs Bulldogs rnd 1 2019

[VillaTheGorilla]

As many said, difficult to name our best as everyone did really well.

If we play like that every game, well win more than we lose.

I don't think Kata did too much wrong with their try, we dropped the ball and they picked it up and made big meters, we were retreating big time and had small numbers. His defence was largely good for most of the match.

If I'm being picky, I thought we struggled a bit with Jazz as our hooker.

Aside from that, was a great win first up. Let's gone Warriors!

 

[Iafeta]

Great performance against this years wooden spooners.

He is oft criticised but I would like to say that Sam Lisone was excellent. Hard charges. Good ball playing. Defence was good. He just needs to produce this consistently because there’s no doubt he’s talented enough. It’s whether he has the desire.

 

[VillaTheGorilla]

Great performance against this years wooden spooners.

He is oft criticised but I would like to say that Sam Lisone was excellent. Hard charges. Good ball playing. Defence was good. He just needs to produce this consistently because there’s no doubt he’s talented enough. It’s whether he has the desire.

Yeah I agree with this. I've been a big critic of his in the past, but if he comes out and plays like this consistently - run and tackle hard, then he'll win me over.

I don't want to get too carried away after one game, but I was concerned with how our 4th prop will go this year, as I thought it would be Satae. Really hoping Sam steps up

 

[LeagueNut]

Biggest round 1 win.
Most points ever in round 1.
Biggest win against Dogs.

And most points on a Warriors debut - Keighran's 16 points beat the previous mark of 12 points set by Frano Botica in 1995.

 

[sup42]

The prospect of tight games with Kata on D still leaves me cold. Maybe I should loosen up already.

But it's his rushing up, if he's been learning new things then patience might be one of them.

If you have a look on the replay, part of the reason I've been fapping about Kata's switch is that every thing about his game screams right center.

Have a look guys at when he Jams in (rushes up) the Right wing comes in with him (as they should) and RTS and the players inside of Kata all slide to cover the gap on the edge that Jamming in creates.

We saw RTS make a bunch of those try saving tackles in the corner last year doing just that.

Kata looks very dangerous ball in hand on the right when he shapes to pass, no one can afford to hang off him, so they have the problem of the Fus, its a nightmare to defend.

I get annoyed along with everyone else with his pugsy greedy little mug but watch the transformation of the entire team with the left and right completely swapping over, its radical and its a coaching master stroke.

 

[sup42]

Looks like Kearneys policy is to rush and jam so Kata was just following the team protocols... cant solely blame him on that one

You beat me too it.

Yeah Kearneys defensive system is the edge backs jam in and the fullback and backrowers inside of them slide to cover the gap that jamming in creates.

The other thing I'd say about Kearneys amazing defensive coaching (he is the Warriors sole defence coach) is that they try to get numbers in the tackle in the middle and pile on top of people to slow the ptb down.Its a smart approach, because an NRL Ref is never going to allow the Warriors to get away with a bit of extra wrestling like the Storm get away with and others.

In the past we have seen a lot of middle defenders hanging back, using a man to man style defending, it takes a lot of gas out of the whole team and it relies on having a Simon Mannering and a Michael Luck or the whole thing falls apart.

There was a brief period under Cappy and Elliot where we experimented with line speed. The downside was the NRL Refs who bullied us out of that pattern with penalties for driving players backward.

The other thing I'd say about Kearneys defensive pattern is that teams who are really good at offloading still cause the Warriors huge problems with so many middle men committed in the tackle there is going to be space out wide.

So there is always a cost. Melbourne ripped us apart that way.

 

[Blair]

If you have a look on the replay, part of the reason I've been fapping about Kata's switch is that every thing about his game screams right center.

Have a look guys at when he Jams in (rushes up) the Right wing comes in with him (as they should) and RTS and the players inside of Kata all slide to cover the gap on the edge that Jamming in creates.

We saw RTS make a bunch of those try saving tackles in the corner last year doing just that.

Kata looks very dangerous ball in hand on the right when he shapes to pass, no one can afford to hang off him, so they have the problem of the Fus, its a nightmare to defend.

I get annoyed along with everyone else with his pugsy greedy little mug but watch the transformation of the entire team with the left and right completely swapping over, its radical and its a coaching master stroke.

Like a climate change denier I just really hope you're right.

 

[TheDMC]

Well the team looks fit, hungry, powerful and well coached - great signs.

But the elephant in the room is how we respond to sustained pressure, which we will face plenty of during the season. Last year, when momentum was against us during games, we struggled to wrest it back. If we have developed the resilience and smarts for that, then should be a successful season.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Couldn’t be happier with the prop rotation in that game. Afoa absolutely killed it with 179m, Ah Mau made about 135 off the bench and immediately showed what a good signing he was, and Lisone made 100m off the bench. Paasi was a little quiet with 88m but still a solid contribution, I think play just didn’t go to his side that much. All of them were making 10-12m per hitup, great team effort.

 

[Rich102]

And they were doing it largely mistake free.

 

[Matua]

Well that was unexpected! Maybe all you Kearney/George fluffers are right? Although, the Bulldogs are predicted to finish last, correct?

That was almost the perfect game from the Warriors.

Hopefully they can continue it against other more highly rated teams.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Well that was unexpected! Maybe all you Kearney/George fluffers are right? Although, the Bulldogs are predicted to finish last, correct?

That was almost the perfect game from the Warriors.

Hopefully they can continue it against other more highly rated teams.

Yeah nobody much is really rating the dogs. Thing is they weren’t actually THAT bad yesterday- we simply gave them nothing and they couldn’t hold our go forward and the attack that came from that platform. The Dogs actually had the highest completion rate and threw the most offloads of any side so far this round.

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

Awesome win. Sux to watch the game the next day.

Bulldogs was a crap team but we actually do like promising enough to pass our first litmus test, whoever that may be.

Good signs.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Yeah nobody much is really rating the dogs. Thing is they weren’t actually THAT bad yesterday- we simply gave them nothing and they couldn’t hold our go forward and the attack that came from that platform. The Dogs actually had the highest completion rate and threw the most offloads of any side so far this round.

A few "experts" have us for the spoon.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

A few "experts" have us for the spoon.

I think a few “experts” will quickly be rewriting their assessments. Most of them were based on the halves situation from what I’ve seen, along with a general lack of regard for Kearney. Not gonna call us champions but I definitely think we’re more likely to be top 8 than spooners.

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

I predicted on Riches comp that we would finish 8th at the end of round 26. I could be wrong and we could finish higher. Then again we could still be wooden spooners.

Early days.

Were on top of the table by the way

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Like pretty much every side a bunch of injuries could wreck us. But I’m not assuming that one until it happens. I like that unlike last year we’ve got an almost 100% fit squad at the start of the season with only Luke being out (and he’s probably only week or two away, but we don’t need to rush him)

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

Like pretty much every side a bunch of injuries could wreck us. But I’m not assuming that one until it happens. I like that unlike last year we’ve got an almost 100% fit squad at the start of the season with only Luke being out (and he’s probably only week or two away, but we don’t need to rush him)

If theres one thing I could take away from when we played the Storm in this years trial match, its that we have pretty good depth. I reckon we have better depth than the Storm anyway.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

If theres one thing I could take away from when we played the Storm in this years trial match, its that we have pretty good depth. I reckon we have better depth than the Storm anyway.

Depth is a tricky thing to judge on reserve performances sometimes though. The Dogs NSW cup side beat ours- does that mean they have better depth than us?

 

[ZEROMISSTACKLES]

Depth is a tricky thing to judge on reserve performances sometimes though...

I was actually judging it on our preseason trial against the Storm. Both teams had a lot of their top players sitting out that preseason hit out and we got to see our depth against theirs.

I do agree with your quote above. Do the Dogs have better depth than us? as you say - it is tricky to judge. My answer to your question is equally tricky to explain. Theres too many facets to cover such as depth in certain positions, the quality of the top side incumbants compared to their reserve grade replacements and the difference in grades. So my answer would be, yes in some areas and no in others.