Heads up on high shots
Warriors players expect to work on changing their tackling technique after coach Nathan Brown made a point of ensuring they were aware all five matches before their game against Parramatta last weekend had been impacted by the loss of a man to the sin bin.
The Warriors-Eels clash on Sunday was the sixth match of Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium and it was the only game in which no player was sin-binned or sent off after the NRL announced a crackdown on any contact with the head of an opponent.
Star Warriors players Ken Maumalo, Leeson Ah Mau and Bayley Sironen backed the tough action this week and said it was up to teams to practice tackling lower before next weekend’s round of matches or risk playing with less than 13 players.
“It will take a bit of time for the point to get across,” Maumalo said. “I know that the way we train is going to have to change, in terms of our tackle technique and where we want to hit.
“For pre-season, we normally try to lock up the ball, hence why we go high. But I guess we’re going to have to change our tackle technique and we’re probably going to have to try to aim lower.”
Ah Mau also expected tackling to be a focus at training this week as the Warriors prepare to play Wests Tigers at Central Coast Stadium tomorrow night.
“I think that the coaching staff will talk about it and they might start to introduce that low tackling into some of our training session,” the Kiwis test prop said.
Sironen said that the Warriors had watched the matches on Friday night and Saturday so knew that the referees were enforcing a zero tolerance policy for high contact after Canberra prop Josh Papalii was sent off and 12 other players were sent to the sin bin.
St George Illawarra centre Tyrell Fuimaono and Gold Coast forward Herman Ese’ese were sent off in later matches, while Dragons enforcer Josh McGuire and Penrith prop Moses Leota were sin-binned.
“The rules haven’t really changed, it is just the punishment that has,” said Sironen, who will miss the clash with his former club and close friend Luke Brooks after suffering a knee injury in the 34-18 loss to the Eels.
“As players we are all really conscious that you are not allowed to touch the head and the coaching staff spoke about how the NRL is cracking down hard on it.
“We saw from the other games where teams were really hindered by having that person in the sin bin, so it is something that we are conscious of. It is good that the NRL are taking a stance on it and trying to knock it out of the game.”
Ah Mau said: “It was spoken about before the game so all the boys were aware of it and we definitely didn’t want to be a man down, so we were really cautious about the head area and it was really good that no one got sent off.”
● Warriors’ head coach Nathan Brown has stuck with the status quo in the spine for tomorrow’s NRL clash with the Wests Tigers (8pm) at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford.
Despite growing calls for teenager Reece Walsh to have more of a role, the 18-year-old is listed on the interchange bench.
Walsh had a big impact in last week’s 34-18 loss to the Eels, helping spark a mini revival from 24-0 down after entering the fray in the 35th minute.
Brown said after the match that Walsh would be used at fullback, rather than in another position in the spine, but any shuffle involving Roger Tuivasa-Sheck could remain a mid-game strategy.
The captain is retained at fullback, while Chanel Harris-Tavita and Kodi Nikorima pair in the halves for the fifth time this season.
There may be further changes before kick-off however, as Brown has often made late tweaks this year.
Nikorima is an option at No 9, even though the Kiwis halfback prefers not to play there.
In other team news, winger Rocco Berry (head) plus second rowers Josh Curran (elbow) and Bayley Sironen (knee) have all been ruled out.
Berry is undergoing HIA protocols after leaving the field just before halftime on Sunday while Curran faces between two to four weeks on the sideline after hyper-extending his right elbow.
Sironen has a meniscus issue in his left knee; it’s not yet known when he will return.
In their place wing Marcelo Montoya returns from injury while back rower Jack Murchie is in line for his fifth appearance of the season.
Kane Evans is named at prop after being dropped for the Eels match.