Yes. This is not the same old Warriors
Two games a season may be a small sample size but already there’s enough evidence to suggest that these aren’t the Warriors of old. True, they haven’t played any great teams yet and they won’t this weekend when they take on a winless Raiders in Canberra.
But in the dark days at the end of the 2017 season, the Warriors would have struggled to beat many NSW Cup teams, let alone ordinary Rabbitohs and Titans sides. That’s how bad they were.
In the games against the Rabbitohs and Titans, their fans were no doubt waiting for that trademark second-half capitulation, but no, it never came.
It’s this more than anything that indicates the Warriors can be a top-eight side this year.
Sure, there will be low points, we are still talking about the Warriors after all, but they have enough about them to make this a memorable season after so many disappointing ones.
Prior to this season the forward pack had for years been held up as the Warriors strength, although that was more myth than reality.
The pack was actually slow and without much of a bite. Ben Matulino had been below his best for a couple of years and clearly needed a change.
Ryan Hoffman was a major disappointment and although he often spoke about the team needing to step up, he was one of the biggest contributors to the on-field errors.
Replace those players with Adam Blair and Tohu Harris and you’ve immediately got an upgrade.
Then throw in Leivaha Pulu and Agnatius Paasi and that is a pretty complete forward pack.
The right edge is now a pretty special one with Shaun Johnson, Harris, Peta Hiku all lining up to produce a fearsome attacking wave. While Blake Green has become the halves partner Johnson has been craving for.
He’s already fitted in better than Kieran Foran did last season and you can see Johnson is running with more freedom and with less pressure to be the man to create everything.
Coach Stephen Kearney knows how to bring the best out of his players and has given them more freedom to play what’s in front of them this year.
Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves too much and start talking about the Warriors making the grand final. But if they can keep playing like they are, tidy up a few things, like being more direct with their running and cutting down on the penalties, then there’s no reason why they can’t make the top eight.