Warriors ‘need to regain momentum’
Warriors coach Nathan Brown said his team needed to work out how to get back into the game when the Sea Eagles went on a 24-point scoring blitz at Lottoland yesterday.
The final score was 38-32 to the Sea Eagles, with the Warriors starting and finishing the game well, but throwing it all away during a dreadful period that lasted most of the second half.
In the first period, the Warriors were the better team, leading 20-12 at the break. Even so, Tom Trbojevic scored two tries, then in the second half he generated so much for his team, along with Sea Eagles’ playmaker Daly CherryEvans.
‘‘Him and Daly, they’re in the top handful of players playing the game and we’ve got a lot of young players playing at the moment, on both edges,’’ Brown said.
‘‘Our right edge in particular, young Rocco [Berry], it was his third game and Ed [Kosi], it was his second and I thought they did a great job.
‘‘They only leaked one try down there and I’m sure they’ll improve from that. Our left edge had a few issues in the second half.’’
The game’s turning point came early in the second half, when for all money it looked like the Warriors were about to score another try.
They had a three-on-one overlap on the right edge. Kodi Nikorima had the ball, with Berry and Kosi outside him.
He could have backed himself to go for the try, but threw a pass that was too far in front of Berry and landed by the feet of Kosi.
Within a couple of minutes the Sea Eagles scored down the other end.
‘‘At 20-12, we should have walked over the line,’’ Brown said of that moment. ‘‘The error didn’t cost us the game, but it’s how we struggle when momentum and things don’t go our way and momentum goes against us.
‘‘To become a good side you’re going to have opportunities in games when you put sides in a situation where the scoreboard suggests they’re a fair way away, and when you don’t take the (opportunities), that happens and it’s how you respond to them that makes you a good team.
‘‘Our response to that wasn’t great and then we never touched the ball again for a while and we invited Daly and Tommy Turbo into the contest.’’
Rising star Reece Walsh was put onto the interchange bench for this game, with Chanel Harris-Tavita starting at five-eighth.
In the 52nd minute he was introduced into the halves, with Kodi Nikorima going to hooker and Wayde Egan coming off.
Walsh scored one of the Warriors’ late tries and also had a try assist, but a conundrum Brown has to solve is how to use him in games and if he starts, where does that leave Nikorima and Egan.
‘‘I don’t know if I’m using Reece properly,’’ Brown admitted. ‘‘He’s only been with us for three weeks and obviously Manly had a plan for when he was on the field and those are the things that will be a great learning for Reece.
‘‘Going from fullback to where we put him last week, the Cowboys didn’t know where he was going to be. This week Manly probably had a fair idea and that’s a part of learning how to play first-grade.’’