Warriors can forget title after thumping
OPINION: New Zealand Warriors fans can forget about dreaming of a NRL title win in 2018.
The Kiwi franchise went from being contenders to pretenders inside a week.
Having continued their heady start to the season by handing the Dragons their first loss last Friday, Stephen Kearney’s side suffered a brutal reality check in the form of a 50-10 thumping from the Melbourne Storm on Wednesday night.
After being unbeaten over their opening five matches they have gone loss, win, loss and sadly their trademark traits are returning.
Outmuscled by Brisbane to blot their bright start, they were completely outplayed by 2017 premiers Melbourne who showed the true qualities of a champion side.
Warriors fans, desperate to seize on any hope after so many hopeless seasons, must now face the horrible realisation that the current team is prone to disasters just like their predecessors.
One loss shouldn’t define a season, nor should a decent early win or two. But there were alarming signs in Melbourne that old habits die hard.
Just when there was a feeling that the Warriors had turned a corner and that real heart was backing up new-found fitness levels, a lack of ticker was terrible to behold in a match dedicated to the spirit of the Anzacs.
The tireless tackling against the Dragons gave real hope that the days of conceding 50 points had been left behind. But that nightmare returned in embarrassing fashion with the Warriors blown away by the Storm in an opening quarter disaster.
In a throwback to last year, the defence was paper thin at times and there remains a feeling that the team is still too dependent on some of its supposed star quality.
While they may have found a worthy backup to Shaun Johnson in the form of Mason Lino, the absence of Tohu Harris against the Storm brought with it a loss of attitude as much as ability.
New recruit Harris has been the tireless workhorse for the Warriors in their promising resurgence. Without him they lacked organisation and authority. It’s no coincidence that Harris learned his trade through 117 games for the Storm before moving across the Tasman.
The loss of the in-form Issac Luke early in the Melbourne meltdown will place increased pressure on the Warriors as they look to respond to this shambolic performance.
Without his speed and running game from dummy half, the Warriors lacked penetration up the middle.
It’s still early days and the NRL is a draining competition, a relentless grind that is more a marathon than the sprinter’s form shown by the Warriors in 2018.
They have been fast out of the blocks and the target must be to capitalise on that and earn what has become an all-too-rare appearance in the playoffs.
Title-talk is stupid, but a postseason appearance remains realistic for the Warriors if lessons can be learned.
They have a handy buffer to work with but things can change quickly in this ruthless championship as the Warriors know too well.
It’s crucial that coach Kearney steadies his rocky ship right now. If he doesn’t, the smiles we have seen over the start of the season can quickly be replaced by the look of shock and disbelief that was so apparent in Melbourne.