Warriors fly Anzac flag in Melbourne
In recent years the club has shied away from being called the ‘New Zealand’ Warriors, but for its traditional Anzac Day clash against the Storm, there’s no getting away that it’s representing this country.
There’s something special about this Anzac Day game, which has become one of the most significant fixtures on the calendar for both clubs.
The NRL does a superb job at commemorating Anzac Day and this annual game between teams from either side of the Tasman has become a must-attend for New Zealanders living in Melbourne.
It’s an occasion when Kiwis and Australians come together, but then celebrate their differences.
Even in an AFL-dominated city like Melbourne, this game means something. There will be the Anzac Day pre-game events and anthems, the coaches will be wanting their players to focus on collecting two valuable competition points.
It’s the eighth game of the season for both clubs and by this stage the ladder has become a truer indicator of how good the teams are.
That’s good for the Storm, who are placed second, but not so for the 11th placed Warriors.
The Storm have only lost one game this season, while the Warriors haven’t won away and when the two teams met in round two, the Storm won 26-10.
So everything is towards a Melbourne AAMI Park tonight.
But assistant coach Steve McNa- pointing victory at mara feels the Warriors have been building over the season and are catching up with the Storm.
‘‘Without a doubt I think we’re going in the right direction,’’ McNamara said.
‘‘Obviously we would have liked to have another win or so next to our name, but the players are feeling confident and the coaches are confident that we’re pushing forward into the right direction.
‘‘We’re already a tough team to beat, but we’re going to get stronger as the season goes on.’’
Having beaten the Knights in round one this season, the Warriors got their first real test when they hosted the Storm a week later.
It was a game played in torrential rain and Craig Bellamy’s side had a comfortable win.
The Warriors were without Kieran Foran that day, but Billy Slater and Jesse Bromwich were missing from the Storm side.
‘‘Everything we were trying to put in place was relatively new at that stage,’’ McNamara said.
‘‘The conditions were horrendous that night and both teams dealt with that impeccably well.
‘‘When you play the Storm you know they’re going to hold onto the ball for long periods of time and we managed to do that back to them as well.
‘‘We’re trying to play a style that suits our team and obviously suits trying to win a competition.
‘‘Melbourne have been the benchmark for that over a number of years, with how they defend and control possession, but we’ve been making some strong strides in that direction.’’
The Warriors have named Ben Matulino on the bench for this game. Whether he’ll play his first game of the season after batting a knee injury won’t be known until an hour before kick off.
But if he does, McNamara feels he could make a similar impact to the one Foran did a few weeks ago.
‘‘He’s an international standard prop,’’ McNamara said.
‘‘His form in the last 12 months probably, I wasn’t here so I can’t speak first hand to that, but it maybe wasn’t to that standard.
‘‘But we all know that Ben is playing at his best he’s a real handful and to have an international front rower coming in is big.
‘‘A lot was made of when Kieran Foran came into the team in the halves, in terms of giving us a boost in that area.
‘‘But when your number one front rower comes back in and is playing to an international standard, that’s as big a boost as anything.’’