Warriors urged to back themselves
ANALYSIS: For a club that has never been renowned for its ball control, the Warriors have certainly tightened up in that area under Nathan Brown.
But, despite returning to winning ways over the Dragons, even the coach has conceded they may need to loosen the shackles in attack ahead of a massive Anzac Day test against Melbourne.
After completing 46 of 48 sets in last season’s corresponding clash, the Warriors were even more disciplined on Sunday, finishing 40 of 41 sets for an incredible 98 per cent completion rate. The Warriors’ set completion has been superb through the first six rounds, leading the NRL in the key statistic at 83 per cent. However, it hasn’t translated to a boatload of tries, with the side ranked 11th for points scored at 18.8 per game.
Compare that to the second-placed Rabbitohs, who have the second-best attack (26.8ppg), despite only being ranked 12th for set completions (76 per cent).
Possession is obviously crucial but, with none of the top four clubs featuring in the top five of set completions, it emphasises Brown’s point that they need to be more adventurous.
‘‘It was our thing at halftime, I thought we played a little bit conservative. We have been a bit guilty of that during the year at different stages, we probably needed to play a bit more footy,’’ Brown said after the 20-14 win over the Dragons.
‘‘When you are playing reasonably conservative you certainly need to get through your sets. Like all teams, you want to complete but ... the best team in the comp’s not the highest completing team all the time, isn’t it. ‘‘You need to play a bit of footy.
‘‘The injuries and changes probably aren’t helping us, but we could maybe back ourselves a bit more. In the second half, we certainly played more football which was pleasing.’’ It’s a tricky balancing act, particularly when facing a ruthless side such as the Storm.
While the Warriors probably need to come up with more in attack than they did against the Dragons, they run the risk of errors piling up if they try to force their hand too much.
And the reigning premiers are experts at making their rivals’ pay for mistakes.
But lock Jazz Tevaga felt there were positive signs on Sunday with the tactics his side employed to combat St George Illawarra’s fast-moving defensive line in the middle.
‘‘We knew they were going to be aggressive from their A,B,C, D defenders,’’ Tevaga said. ‘‘So early in the tackle count we were looking to get it to the edge, shift the ball to our back-row and get at their halves, which allowed us to make easy metres.
‘‘That’s how we started our sets and we’d get down to their end and either put it high in the corner or put it up high for [Matt] Dufty and put pressure on him.’’
A quarter of the way through his first season in charge, sitting on a 3-3 record, Brown couldn’t fault the squad’s effort given their heavy injury toll.
All bar two of their matches have been decided by six or fewer points. But, while the Warriors won two of those, they were still learning how to navigate the close encounters, Brown said. ‘‘We’re certainly good by far but far from good, we’re somewhere in the middle there. But the good thing is – you can tell by the scores in our games – we’re having a go, so that’s a good start.’’