Warriors land with a thump
Warriors coach Nathan Brown admits his team have “a way to go” to compete with the top echelon of NRL teams, after their 32-12 loss to the Roosters on Sunday night.
Following their impressive 34-31 comeback win over the Raiders last week, the Warriors were brought back to earth with a bump against the well-honed Roosters machine.
The Warriors led 12-4 midway through the first half, before the Roosters scored five unanswered tries.
The Roosters may be missing some key players — with half Luke Keary out for the season with an ACL injury — but they still have class across the park.
Perhaps more importantly, they also have the experience of numerous successful campaigns over the last eight years, with three grand finals and three preliminary finals and are masters of the grind.
In a match where both teams were sloppy in possession, the Roosters gradually squeezed the life out of the Warriors with their aggressive defence, then wore them down further with their relentless ruck speed on attack.
“We were in the game for a longer period than it ended up but I still think we have a way to go to catch up to those sides,” said Brown
Brown identified the Roosters’ ability to lift the tempo with ball in hand, as well as their famed defensive resilience, as the key points of difference at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“They played very quick which obviously took a lot of juice out of us so [while] we did a lot of yardage kicks, they were doing a lot of attacking kicks,” said Brown.
“The other thing that stood out [was] they saved three or four tries where we didn’t save any. The better teams find ways to keep you from scoring and the Roosters have been up there for a fair while now. At crucial moments and on the counter, they get you.” — NZ Herald