Fixes come first for Warriors coach after comeback draw
“Our errors were bad. Our good footy was really good.”
Warriors coach Andrew Webster succinctly summed up the pluses and minuses that added up to a draw against the Manly Sea Eagles on Saturday.
The share of the spoils ended a run of three victories, but was one point more than the hosts at Mt Smart Stadium looked like getting for the majority of the encounter.
The hosts trailed by 16 points in the first half, and were still eight down with just 70 seconds remaining, when winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored what felt like a consolation try, which Shaun Johnson converted.
Johnson missed a desperate last-second attempt at a two-point field goal to level the scores, but Manly forward Josh Aloiai was penalised after a bunker review for making contact with Johnson’s leg after the kick even if the visitors could have argued the Warriors star was equally responsible for the minor collision through the momentum of his kicking leg.
The halfback kicked the resulting penalty with time up to send the encounter into a Golden Point period, which proved to be a stalemate that ensured a 22-22 draw.
“I thought a draw was a good result from 16-nil down,” Webster said on Saturday night.
“I think the big thing we're talking about in there [the dressing sheds] is why were we 16-nil down and what have we got to fix?
“But obviously we did great to come back. We never gave up, so I was super proud of that.”
Webster said the penalty which allowed Johnson to level the scores was “definitely the right call”.
“It's unfortunate - I don't think Josh meant it. He was trying to charge the ball down - he's [Johnson’s] trying to kick a field goal, Josh has got to do that.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster
“Obviously we did great to come back. We never gave up, so I was super proud of that.”
“He's got to go for the ball and it was just unfortunate that's what happened. Fortunate for us and unfortunate for them, gave us a chance to draw the game, but they're the rules and that's how it is.” Captain Tohu Harris concurred.
“It's one of those unfortunate things, but it is like a clearcut rule nowadays. You just can't touch the kicker’s legs.”
Webster added: “When he kicked it, I thought, well, we need a two point field goal and he had a crack at it and missed it and I was walking out the door thinking the game was over, and the next thing I'm walking back in thinking 'oh, it might be a penalty'.”
“We were on the other end of it in Melbourne [in round 2, when the Storm scored a dramatic last-gasp try to win].
“So I probably know how Manly feel right now. They feel like they had that game won and done and then somehow you don't come away with the victory.”
Webster described his side as “super aggressive in our defence” in the 10-minute Golden Point period.
“We didn't give them a chance and I'm glad that we were the team throwing more punches at the end.
“In golden point, everyone thinks it's about attack, getting down the other end, which it is, but you’ve gotta stop them and stop them having an opportunity to have a field goal at you.
“We had Shaun miss a field goal, they had a 20-metre restart and I don't think they even got over halfway to have their opportunity.”
Ultimately, the coach was left to rue the mistakes and seek to fix matters ahead of their trip to Wollongong to play the St George Illawarra Dragons on Friday night.
“I thought we put lots of pressure on with our kick-chase again. I thought we were consistent there and then we'd come up with a clanger and let them off the hook.
“We did that too many times, and then once we made a mistake, we were out of our defensive system.
“It just felt like round one [when the Warriors lost 16-12 to the Sharks] - there was so much good footy, like so much good stuff we can celebrate.
“I thought we looked the better team at times, but there were so many times our bad was just lots of fundamental errors and I just didn't think we backed it up well enough.
“Once we made errors, I didn't think we defended the way we wanted.”