Warriors try to get reward for progress
Over the last two rounds the Warriors have been commended over their performances, but they picked up a grand total of zero competition points.
In the losses to the Raiders and Storm the Warriors showed they’re not a bad side, but one that still not quite up to the task of matching it with the NRL’s best.
And that’s a worry heading into today’s game at Mt Smart Stadium, because they’re playing an impressive Roosters team that looks to have bounced back from last year’s time in the wilderness.
Warriors assistant coach Andrew McFadden believes despite those losses, the team is heading in the right direction.
‘‘I guess it’s about looking at our performances and we feel we’ve been building and playing a lot more consistent,’’ McFadden said.
‘‘Certainly, the 80 minutes we played on Anzac Day, if we play that way most weeks we’ll get two points more often than not.
‘‘We came up against a team that was equally committed and probably had a bit more cohesion.
‘‘We’ve got to keep tracking that way and make sure we match that performance level.’’
It hasn’t by any means got to desperation stakes yet for the Warriors, but if they don’t beat the Roosters, they’ll be four points outside the top eight and their fans will be certainly hoping this isn’t another season where the team are having to play catch up to scrape into the top eight.
‘‘You don’t want to get too far behind,’’ McFadden said. ‘‘We’ve had three wins and five losses, but definitely this weekend going into the rep round it would be nice to get two points.
‘‘But it’s certainly not at the front of our mind, what we’re focusing on is improving from last week.’’
The big selection news heading into this game was Charnze NicollKlokstad finally getting his chance to play in the NRL, after a year and a half at the club.
He comes onto the wing, with Blake Ayshford shifting to fill in for the injured Solomone Kata at centre. ‘‘I’m really happy for Charnze, he’s worked extremely hard,’’ said McFadden, who was instrumental at bringing him to the club at the beginning of the 2016 season. ‘‘He came from Melbourne 18 months ago, last year was his first time as a full time athlete and to be fair he came out of the box all guns blazing and was fantastic, but he hit the wall in that first year.
‘‘But this year he’s been terrific, he’s certainly matured as an athlete and player and his debut this weekend is well deserved, we’re all looking forward to seeing him out there.’’
Another player Warriors fans should be looking forward to seeing is centre David Fusitu’a. He’s shown in patches how good he can be over the last couple of seasons, but this has been mixed in with the odd error or defensive mistake.
But those downsides in his game haven’t been as evident this year and he’s been one of the team’s most dependable players.
‘‘He’s a lot more mature as a player now and more consistent with his performances,’’ McFadden said.
‘‘By his own admission he would say he’s been in and out of games before, but he’s playing the 80 minutes out very well now and he’s a big impact player for us.’’