Warriors have work to do, says Webster
Warriors coach Andrew Webster might think there is a lot more work to be done before the round one game against the Sharks on March 8, but winger Marcelo Montoya isn’t too concerned.
The Warriors beat the Dolphins 34-22 in front of 14,276 spectators at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday to complete their pre-season trial programme.
Webster felt the Warriors lacked discipline against the Dolphins and the 9-0 penalty count against them highlights that, but the reality is no NRL coach would think everything is hunky-dory after his team’s final trial.
Webster feels he’s close to knowing what his 17 will be for the first game of the season but he doesn’t want to see anyone coasting in training over the next fortnight.
“You’ve still got to train well,” Webster said. “You can’t turn up and say ‘I know I’m in the team’ and start training poorly, missing your assignment or having a poor attitude.
“I think 90% of the team has picked itself over the last two trials and training. But they’ve all trained well, that’s the hard part, no one has trained poorly, or come back fat. Everyone’s in good shape.”
Montoya was one of the Warriors players who had a good game against the Dolphins, scoring the opening try, and feels the team is on track.
“It was a good hitout, it was good to get the big boys back out there. Our start was awesome,” Montoya said.
“The back end of the first half and the back end of the second half our discipline slipped a bit and we were giving away penalties.
“But it was a trial match and there are a few things to fix up for training and work on.”
With the Dolphins trial a sellout, the atmosphere at the stadium felt more like a regular season game than a meaningless hit-out, but that just showed how much of a buzz there is around the team.
“I couldn’t believe that it was a sellout for a trial match,” Montoya said.
One of the intriguing parts of the trial was Roger-Tuivasa-Sheck moving to fullback for the second half, even though Webster said Taine Tuaupiki will be his starting No 1 while Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad recovers from his hamstring injury, which should keep him sidelined for the first few rounds.
Although Webster felt Tuivasa-Sheck played well at the back, he’s still committed to using the former Dally M winner as a centre and said it was a precautionary measure to take Tuaupiki out of the game at halftime