Warriors post match press conferences have often been depressing places over the last few years, with whoever the head coach was trying to explain what went wrong.
But on Saturday night after the Warriors beat the Cowboys 26-12 in Townsville, Tohu Harris wasnt looking like he was carrying the weight of 1000s of depressed fans on his shoulders and Andrew Webster was happily talking about whats working well.
It was a superb win against the team that finished third on the ladder last season and Webster felt his forwards were a big part of that.
We wanted to see what our forward pack could do if we had more than 50% of the ball, Webster said, with his team having 54% of possession in this game.
READ MORE:
* Warriors learning what needs to happen to take them to next level in NRL
* 'I'm a bit rattled': Emotional moment Warriors fullback Taine Tuaupiki learns he will achieve his NRL dream
* Warriors remain work in progress but are building from a good base
We havent had that in stages at the preseason trials and the start of the season. We wanted to see how dominant they could be.
Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images
It hasnt taken long for Andrew Webster to stamp his mark on this Warriors team.
Theyre a very hard working side and its one of the strengths of our team and tonight we got to see that.
I was really happy for them, they worked hard, they were fast over the advantage line with the ball and looked dangerous.
There were 10 Warriors players who carried the ball for at least 100 metres, with Bunty Afoa two metres short of making it 11.
Marcelo Montoya carried it for an impressive 228 metres and Webster was pleased with how he, Ed Kosi on the other wing and debutant fullback Taine Tuaupiki made so much ground.
For our back three, weve worked hard on that, he said.
If were going to get into an arm wrestle with a team we need them to get forward for us and once they get forward, these guys (forwards) can own it on tackle three, four and five and then we put a good kick in.
I was impressed with how organised our forwards looked with the ball, he added.
Passing the ball to each other, knowing their role, reloading down their end so they were having one effort and then having another effort.
Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images
Warriors Jazz Tevaga scored a try in his first game since August.
The Warriors lost Mitch Barnett with an injury during the game and its uncertain whether hell be available to play against the Bulldogs at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.
However, a line can already be put through Wayde Egans name, as he got knocked out when colliding with the largely anonymous Jason Taumalolo.
Wayde has got a concussion, Webster confirmed.
Hes OK, hes talking fine. Its the third time hes come off and theyre not all for concussion this year.
But the poor bugger is in the wars at the moment and hes pretty important to the way we want to play.
The Warriors have conceded 44 points over the first three games of the season. Thats an average of 14.6 per game. Last year they leaked an average of 29.2 points per game, the worst in the NRL.
There were times in Townsville where the Warriors were defending their goal line, with real vigour, but the Cowboys didnt score anything after the 13th minute and thats something which pleased Webster.
There were three or four efforts right at the end of the game where we could have let them score and still won the game, but we kept turning up for each other, he said.
We were desperate on our try line. We do need to get a bit more coordinated with our movements, spacings and things like that, but our try line defence is probably one of our strongest parts at the moment.
Webster was also impressed with how Tuaupiki went on debut. But while he did well, Webster said Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad will be back in the No 1 jersey once hes recovered from the concussion picked up in the Roosters game last weekend.
Charnze is our fullback, Webster confirmed.
"I spoke to Taine yesterday and told him youre going to be an NRL pemain forever.
How that works, well work that out later. But if Charnze is fine, he deserves that spot, hes an international.
But Taine is down to earth and modest and hell go back, work hard and get hungry.
It will work out for Taine, hell be playing NRL for a long time.
Breaking news?Send your photos, videos and tip-offs to
[email protected], or call us on 0800 697 8833
FacebookTwitterSnapchatShielded Site
2023 Stuff Limited
Source
But on Saturday night after the Warriors beat the Cowboys 26-12 in Townsville, Tohu Harris wasnt looking like he was carrying the weight of 1000s of depressed fans on his shoulders and Andrew Webster was happily talking about whats working well.
It was a superb win against the team that finished third on the ladder last season and Webster felt his forwards were a big part of that.
We wanted to see what our forward pack could do if we had more than 50% of the ball, Webster said, with his team having 54% of possession in this game.
READ MORE:
* Warriors learning what needs to happen to take them to next level in NRL
* 'I'm a bit rattled': Emotional moment Warriors fullback Taine Tuaupiki learns he will achieve his NRL dream
* Warriors remain work in progress but are building from a good base
We havent had that in stages at the preseason trials and the start of the season. We wanted to see how dominant they could be.
Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images
It hasnt taken long for Andrew Webster to stamp his mark on this Warriors team.
Theyre a very hard working side and its one of the strengths of our team and tonight we got to see that.
I was really happy for them, they worked hard, they were fast over the advantage line with the ball and looked dangerous.
There were 10 Warriors players who carried the ball for at least 100 metres, with Bunty Afoa two metres short of making it 11.
Marcelo Montoya carried it for an impressive 228 metres and Webster was pleased with how he, Ed Kosi on the other wing and debutant fullback Taine Tuaupiki made so much ground.
For our back three, weve worked hard on that, he said.
If were going to get into an arm wrestle with a team we need them to get forward for us and once they get forward, these guys (forwards) can own it on tackle three, four and five and then we put a good kick in.
I was impressed with how organised our forwards looked with the ball, he added.
Passing the ball to each other, knowing their role, reloading down their end so they were having one effort and then having another effort.
Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images
Warriors Jazz Tevaga scored a try in his first game since August.
The Warriors lost Mitch Barnett with an injury during the game and its uncertain whether hell be available to play against the Bulldogs at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.
However, a line can already be put through Wayde Egans name, as he got knocked out when colliding with the largely anonymous Jason Taumalolo.
Wayde has got a concussion, Webster confirmed.
Hes OK, hes talking fine. Its the third time hes come off and theyre not all for concussion this year.
But the poor bugger is in the wars at the moment and hes pretty important to the way we want to play.
The Warriors have conceded 44 points over the first three games of the season. Thats an average of 14.6 per game. Last year they leaked an average of 29.2 points per game, the worst in the NRL.
There were times in Townsville where the Warriors were defending their goal line, with real vigour, but the Cowboys didnt score anything after the 13th minute and thats something which pleased Webster.
There were three or four efforts right at the end of the game where we could have let them score and still won the game, but we kept turning up for each other, he said.
We were desperate on our try line. We do need to get a bit more coordinated with our movements, spacings and things like that, but our try line defence is probably one of our strongest parts at the moment.
Webster was also impressed with how Tuaupiki went on debut. But while he did well, Webster said Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad will be back in the No 1 jersey once hes recovered from the concussion picked up in the Roosters game last weekend.
Charnze is our fullback, Webster confirmed.
"I spoke to Taine yesterday and told him youre going to be an NRL pemain forever.
How that works, well work that out later. But if Charnze is fine, he deserves that spot, hes an international.
But Taine is down to earth and modest and hell go back, work hard and get hungry.
It will work out for Taine, hell be playing NRL for a long time.
- 'Looked great on the website, totally different in reality:' What are your rights when a hotel doesn't deliver?
- Cantabrian wins $15.5m in Cyclone Gabrielle Lotto draw
- Donald Trump calls for protests ahead of expected arrest
- Recap: Ireland vs England - Six Nations
- Motorbikers rescued near 'Devil's Staircase' in remote Akatarawa Forest
- Bulldozed boatyard: Yachties face off with wealthy club over axing of public hardstand
- Thousands of birds die at important wetland, from deadly disease caused by pollution
- One dead in 'horrible' car fire in downtown Auckland
- Crusaders pip Blues 34-28 in surging, high-quality Super Rugby Pacific clash
- Quiz: Morning trivia challenge: March 19, 2023
Breaking news?Send your photos, videos and tip-offs to
[email protected], or call us on 0800 697 8833
FacebookTwitterSnapchatShielded Site
2023 Stuff Limited
Source
