Warriors’ women face tough task to stop stampeding Broncos
The Warriors’ women face the NRLW equivalent of mission impossible tomorrow night, but remain confident they can upset the odds.
The Auckland team take on the defending premiers Brisbane, who have set a peerless standard in the short history of the women’s competition.
The Warriors need a victory to have a chance of reaching the NRLW grand final next week. That’s a tough ask.
No team has come close to toppling the Broncos over the last two seasons. They've won six games from six, including last year’s grand final.
They have scored 144 points in that time, including 27 tries, and have had their line crossed only seven times in Two seasons.
The Warriors held their own for a period in last year’s encounter, trailing 16-10 at halftime, before the Broncos accelerated away with 16 unanswered points in the second half.
Warriors’ assistant coach Justin Morgan says a solid start, and no let up in intensity, is key against a team that won’t give up many chances.
“In both games that I've seen Brisbane play [this year] they've started very well and most probably haven't been put under a great deal of pressure,” he said. “It's important for us in that first 20 minutes to stay in the arm wrestle with them and then we can go from there.”
Despite the dispiriting nature of Sunday’s defeat to the Dragons in their first home game — the Warriors shipped 26 points in the final 20 minutes and Morgan described the post-match scenes as the most dejected he has witnessed in his coaching career — he is adamant all is not lost.
“It's important for us to go there and bounce back from last week,” said Morgan. “And if we can do that with our energy and defend like we did in different stages in the first two weeks, we'll be well and truly on our way.”
The Warriors have left the door open for Kiwi Ferns skipper Honey Hireme, but admit she is unlikely to make the trip. The 38-year-old was a marquee signing but has yet to play as he cares for her mother, who has been diagnosed with incurable stomach cancer.
“We have named her in the extended squad to give her an opportunity,” said Morgan. “We have to name 21 players [in the squad] and with injuries and a couple of girls struggling with head knocks and so forth, we put her in there just in case she says to us ‘I'm ready to go'.
“She knows that the door is always open for her, but at this stage it looks pretty unlikely.”