RTS: Warriors must vary the attack
Captain Roger Tuivasa- Sheck says the Warriors must show better awareness around how to vary their attack and play with greater speed in today’s clash against the Gold Coast.
The 24- year- old fullback says their round 12 win over Brisbane and last week’s loss to Parramatta have taught the Warriors the benefit of changing the point of their attack instead of sticking rigidly to their set structures.
Working through sets to launch their sweeping backline plays has reaped rewards but the Warriors are putting a greater emphasis on recognising and exploiting opportunities closer to the ruck through hard running and quick play the balls.
“We don’t have the biggest forwards but we have a really mobile pack,” Tuivasa- Sheck said. “So if we can create that running momentum through the middle, instead of going for the big shape, and the pass out the back, it can work for us.
“We’ve said if we can break the middle first and allow players like myself and Issac Luke to run, then we can start to look to that stuff,” the skipper said yesterday.
Against the Broncos, a strong charge from Ken Maumalo provided space for halfback Shaun Johnson to step through the middle of the ruck for their first try.
Maumalo then scored in the second half after a quick play the ball from front rower Albert Vete allowed hooker Luke to run from dummy half and split the Broncos defence.
Against the Eels, the Warriors struggled for attacking fluency but looked sharp inside the final 10 minutes, when an ad- lib set finished with Tuivasa- Sheck beating four defenders through the middle of the park to score beside the posts.
“We were getting a lot of joy going through the middle of them instead of going around the back,” TuivasaSheck said.
“We did it really well and were starting to open up space for myself and Issac.
“Those are the lessons we can take out of the game and hopefully apply to this one.”
In his first year as captain after returning from a season- ending knee injury in 2016, Tuivasa- Sheck has bounced back to be near his best after his form took a dive last month in back- to- back losses to Penrith and St George Illawarra.
The Kiwis international admits he has been guilty of trying too hard at times and says he needs to find consistency in his own game to help his side get back on track.
Sitting in 12th on the NRL ladder, the Warriors head to Cbus Super Stadium desperate for a win over the 11th- ranked Titans ahead of next week’s bye round, after losing five of their last seven games.
“At times, I think I have [ been trying too hard]. My game pretty much reflects the way the season has been going for us, like a roller- coaster, up and down.
“I haven’t put any consistency into my game, which I’m really working on, and I feel like I need to go back and do the small stuff right.
“That Brisbane game, when everyone’s in, you feed off all of that stuff and you feel like you’ll go well. And then games like last week against Parra, where it was against us and we were under the pump, I just need to find a way to step up,” said Tuivasa- Sheck.