Season at point of no return
Warriors skipper says it’s not too late to stop season of promise slipping away
The Warriors are at the crossroads — and Roger TuivasaSheck is close to the end of his tether. The skipper has faced several difficult periods at the club, including the losing runs to end the 2017 and 2019 campaigns, and all the Covid-19 inspired upheavals of last season, when he was trying to lead the club while isolated from his family.
He cut a dejected figure after Saturday’s 10-6 defeat at Newcastle, their fifth loss in six games.
After a promising start to the season, with two victories in the first three rounds, the Warriors are starting to fade.
The NRL is built on fine margins and the Warriors have been on the wrong end of too many close games. There was no lack of effort on Saturday but the individual and collective execution wasn’t good enough.
Tuivasa-Sheck desperately wants to finish his Warriors career on a high, with a charge for the finals, but realises they are nearing the point of no return. They’ll have to win six or seven of their last 10 games, and still have to face the Panthers, Rabbitohs and improving Sharks (twice).
Tuivasa-Sheck admits some soul searching is needed at Warriors HQ, as they try to turn the season around. He suggested taking inspiration from the 2008 team, who won eight of their final 10 matches, before a famous win over the Storm in the first week of the playoffs.
Tuivasa-Sheck said a member of that team, Ian Henderson, spoke to the current crew about how they turned things around.
“He said they all looked at each other individually and said ‘ what do we actually want from this year, what do we want to do?’ Those are the questions that need to be asked, because we can either just sit back and let this season go by or take control of it by individually being honest with each other.”
After being outplayed in the first half on Saturday, the Warriors dominated possession and territory after the break but couldn’t make it count.
“I don’t think the decisions we were making in attack were the right ones,” said Tuivasa-Sheck. “I don’t think we were doing enough to get the momentum back. We fought really well, [with] the wind against us in the second half, to get ourselves back into the right position.
“We just weren’t taking our opportunities, weren’t putting on the right plays, those are the minor things that have been hurting us each week.”
As he stood outside the Warriors dressing room, Tuivasa-Sheck wondered why a team with such promise — and arguably a finals-quality roster — find themselves on the brink.
“We can fight our way back, a team that has a lot of fight, [we have] a good pack to work off. It’s just the finishing touches from our halves, our edges being in positions to score tries. That’s the frustrating part; we need to put all those parts together.”
The manner of Saturday’s defeat was particularly tough. With five minutes to play, Tuivasa-Sheck produced a magnificent try-saving tackle on Connor Watson but the Knights crossed out wide on the next play.
“[There was] not enough scramble on the right edge, especially when they had to go right through our middle,” said Tuivasa-Sheck. “It was a simple drop play and our middle just clocked off. We did well to save it and then no one saved us.”