The Junior New Zealand Warriors capped off a fantastic year by obliterating the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the Grand Final of the Toyota Cup. The future of New Zealand rugby league is certainly looking bright. A few of the players have signed to play with other NRL clubs from next year which is unfortunate for the Warriors but good for the national side. The Warriors under 20s team should end up being a great breeding ground for future Kiwis.
Big Sam Rapira celebrated his 100th NRL game for the New Zealand Warriors in style, with a big 36 to 4 thrashing of the Brisbane Broncos in Auckland. The Warriors forwards smashed their Brisbane counterparts into submission allowing their backs to run rampant. For the Warriors, Russell Packer was outstanding, as was Rapira, Lewis Brown, Ukuma Ta’ai and Simon Mannering. Lance Hohaia scored one of the tries of the year when he took the ball, first pass off the ruck, split the defence, chipped over the Brisbane fullback, regathered and scored. The Warriors were ripped-off by the referees a short time later when Hohaia was taken out by the fullback while attempting to reenact the exact same try which would’ve given him a hat-trick for the night.
The Warriors played so well they made the Broncos look like a bunch of 8 year olds. They just looked lost and helpless! Poor little fellas…lol
So the Warriors are now certain to play in finals footy in a couple of weeks and if they win next week and other results go their way, they could get a home semi-final. That would be really friggin’ awesome!
I’ve just come back from the pub after watching the Warriors get beaten by the Cronulla Sharks. The Warriors won the 2nd half 6 – 0 but that doesn’t mean much when you lose the 1st half 18 – 4. Something just isn’t clicking within the team at the moment and the most worrying thing today, for me, was the fact they could obtain good field position for lengthy periods without converting opportunities into points. I think Ivan Cleary is right when he says it’s a confidence issue but it’s hard to imagine why they are not confident.
Warrior dropped balls and poor defensive reads contributed to the Sharks jumping to an 18 – 0 lead. The Warriors got back on top late in the first half and well into the second, until dropped balls once again wrecked any chance of turning things around. Manu Vatuvei’s try was a beauty. The attack leading up to Stacey Jones’ kick looked a bit desperate though. The commentators had to comment on how much Manu has improved his handling. That never gets old, does it? (more…)
Episode 9 of the Aussie Warriors Fan Show just happened to be the round 2 review instalment. I tried to put a positive spin on the fact I only picked 5 out of 8 winners with my tips. I was over the moon about the Warriors beating Manly at Brookvale and revealed my long awaited top 5 players for the round. (more…)
Episode 5 of the Aussie Warriors Fan Show just happened to be the round 1 review instalment. It gave me the opportunity to gloat about my 100% tipping effort and bask in the glory of a first up win for the New Zealand Warriors. Included in this episode is a segment where I name who I thought were the five best Warriors player against the Parramatta Eels. (more…)