Game review from Fan in the Stand. Always a great informative read from someone who knows the game well. Give him a follow on Facebook for all things Warriors ISP...
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Its been a rough couple of weeks for the Warriors and there fans but there is more to the Warriors than just the 1st grade team, so today the Fan In The Stand gathered the family piled in the car and away we went to watch The ISP Warriors team take on Wentworthville Magpies (Parramatta Eels Reserve Grade Team) out at Ringrose Park Wentworthville. After leaving home and crossing the M7, M4, M5 and every other bloody Motorway and paying about 14 tolls in the process in Sydneys chaotic Sydney Traffic we arrive at the Magpies Leagues Club and make our way down the driveway to the Park. Heaps looking forward to today's game as its been a bit of a tough month for the boys with a draw, a win, a loss, a bye for rep round then another comeback draw last week against the Panthers. This could be cos of a couple of things. 1- after starting 7-0 the other teams see us as the bench mark and lift their game each week or 2 - One of our best players Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad has been promoted and hopefully cemented in 1st grade. So the chemistry has changed a little.
The park is in excellent condition with the smell of fresh cut grass mixed with the Fresh Fries odour from the Maccas across the road lingering in the air. As i mentioned this game I was anticipating all week even though we are sitting 2nd on the ladder and Wenty are 9th this would be an even contest up the middle as both teams have a big set of forwards and Wenty has a sprinkling of first grade experiance thoughout their team with the likes of Bureta Faraimo, John Folou, George Jennings, Kiwi Rory O'Brien and former Sea Eagle and England cricket captain David Gower. Also of note in their line up were former Warrior Jeff Robson and former ISP warriors player
Marata Niukore who i rate hugely and also has beefed up to the max since i seen him last season. But Robson and Gower do not make the team and both dont play. We had some late changes to with Ligi Sao starting at prop, alongside him was Nathaniel
Roache who made the mad dash flight im assuming since he got no minutes on Friday Night.
Jazz Tevaga drops to the bench to make way for
Roache with Daniel Palavi dropping out of the squad. I listened to the ground announcer butcher the players names again, who the hell is Tolofa Sipley???? and when did we sign a player called Isaiah Papaeyelieye, sheeesh. Interesting to note that the Magpies team is coached by former kiwi world cup winning captain Nathan Cayless.
I know everyone has an opinion on how the first grade squad is going and how it can be fixed yada yada i have mine but as i look at our forward pack warming up i see it again as i have mentioned in previous reports that this should be a trial for them. The Sipley brothers, albie Vete and
Jazz should be the next cabs off the rank as they have been killing it in this team.
Wenty kick off as we recieve but after tackle 3 Vete knocks on in the contact so Wenty have a full set in our 30 but cant get past our defence and they kick dead giving us a 7 tackle set. We then march upfield and force a goal line dropout. But in the follow up set on attack we throw an intercept and George Jennings runs away but good covering defence sees him tackled but we get penalised for holding on to long. Probably a good move as a quick play the ball would see them with numbers on the left. The kick for touch and after a couple of hitups spin it wide and they put on the backline move and a cut out ball sees Faraimo dive over in the corner for the first try. Gets converted so we are down 6-0. Again Wenty get back on attack and on the last they grubber through but Nathanial
Roache flies out of no where to dive on the ball for a pure try saver. Couple of sets later Wenty fullback knocks on from a Lino kick so we have a chance to build pressure and possesion but make an error on tackle 3 so all pressure gone. Wenty go through their tackles and kick to us but again they force an error on tackle 2 in our 20 so more defence coming up. On tackle 4 Wenty do another backline move out wide and i swear the final pass was right in line with us and went 2 metres forward but the touchie let it go and they score again. We let the ref and touchie know about it but they ignore us and award it 10-0 down after 20 and Vete has a spell and Chris Satae comes on.
More defence for us as Wenty kick a dodgy 40-20 when the touchie was about 40 metres away as we thought Tui had saved it. But good stubbin defence by us sees an error forced im out from our line. Lucky as we have defended heaps and its taking a lot of gas from the tanks of the boys in the middle. A set later Wenty put up a chip/mini bomb and its chaos as about 3 players from each team go up for it as it is right next to the posts and Chris Satae jumps and runs smack into the goal post and stays down. After 1 hitup and 3 minutes on the field he is pretty much carried off and Pat Sipley on. Soon after we get a penalty to ease sum pressure and get a rest. Lino kicks it out we go through some tackles and a set move sees our winger Junior Pauga over for our first try which Lino converts from the sideline 10-6 10 minutes till H/T. Next set
Tevaga hits it up but gets hammered but gets away a great off load for a half break. (ill talk more about offloads later) With that offload we make 85m on that set Later we are penalised and the defence is strong again with nothing getting through. Unreal attitude they have on defence. We get possesion and again our forwards make metres and get us upfield but Ofahiki Ogden is tackled 2 metres out. With 2 minutes to go Sam Cook crosses over for a try but is penalised for a double movement. So at Halftime we are down 10-6
Halftime thoughts
* Our scramble defence is awesum, and thats a attitude thing. Everyone is on the same page.
* Our wrestle in the play the ball is very noticable. We are slowing the play down great to allow the troops to get back 10 meters, we have not been penalised at all
* Magpies defence are constantly offside but are not getting penalise no matter how much we yell at the touchie
* Sao,
Roache and Papalii all played the whole half
* Chris Satae done for the game so we are down to 16
* James Bell not many minutes which is a suprise as he is a machine.
* Not much ball as we are defending a lot, there 2 tries come from out wide set plays. Nothing leaking from the boys defending in the middle. At 10-0 down there was no panic, no pushed plays
Other things i noticed
* The whole Eels first grade team is here including Mitchell Moses, which is a suprise as i thought he might want a release allready.
* A little kid fell off the seats in the mini stand letting out a huge wale and cry as the mother was on tinder oops i meant on her phone. Luckily bubba ok but mother very embarrassed
* Good sprinkling of Warriors fans around the ground, warriors merchandise all over the place. Can hear Vera on the otherside of the field.
We kick off for the 2nd half still in pretty hot conditions and in the following set Semeisi Fotu produces a massive hit and we get possesion but cant make anything of it as Sao knocks on after a couple of tackles. Wenty hot on attack and throwing heaps at us but we hold firm until we a penalised on the last tackle. Ouch that hurts. Wenty take the 2 to lead 12-6. They coudnt go thorugh us so they take the 2 which is a huge wrap for our defence which im sure they got confidnece from. For the next 5 minutes its set for set being traded with no errors just completions.
We get a penalty and then the game changed. You had to be there to see it, it was like just a click of the fingers and away our forwards went. From that penalty Pat Sipley hits it up for 18 metres, then Vete hits it up for 15 metres, Ogden hits it up for 15 then our centre
King Vuniyayawa makes a line break but passes it to a Wenty player who got in the way for us to score. We get possesion back after a Wenty set and again our forwards take over. Pat Sipley and Ogden again make it over the advantage line and with quick play the balls
Tevaga who is now dummyhalf darting around everywhere. We have completely gained the momentum and our bigmen are to much for the magpies defence. Every forward is making over 10m per hitup. With us marching upfield at will Sam cook does a great chip and Tui flies out of no where to get it down for a try next to the posts. We erupt, the Warriors erupt, the bench erupts as that try came from pure aggresion, heart and character from the boys in the middle. The more we yell out the more the forwards grow and we get a good wave from the boys appreciating the support. Lino converts and we are tied up 12 all each and the forwards are in total beast mode.
Wenty kickoff and its total chaos again as Vete just smashes the defence followed by the sipley brothers trampling everyone then Vete hits it again for his 2nd carry in the set and still makes 12 metres. Ofahiki Ogden then scoops up a loose ball and runs 40m and just gets dragged down by the defence who seem to hold him down for about 1/2 hour but no penalty. We spin it wide and Lino does a cross kick and we score in the corner but i cant pick up who got it down as im jumping around and my notes are flying everywhere. Might of been Junior Pauga. Again myself and the fellow Warriors fans around me are losing our shit yelling out support and watching our forwards totally run over the Magpies forwards. And again the boys give us a clap for the supports. Lino misses but its 16-12 to us and we are flying home with a windy sail or whatever that saying is. But a couple of errors in the following sets sees us defending again. Ive mentioned before in previous reports that i cant beleive how good and hard is our front on defence from our halves as Sam Cook being the first up defender is stinging them. Even
Shaun Johnson and Ata and Foz are doing it in first grade.
We survive and in possesion Tui who is having a great 2nd half makes a jinking run beating 4 defenders. Lino kicks on the last and a great chase sees them tackle the Magpies fullback 1 metre out from his line. 2 tackles later Vete and James Bell do another bellringer tackle but are penalised for a strip which is pure kefs as we saw it perfectly as a loose carry. $ tackles later an easy missed tackle out wide by
Vuniyayawa sees Magpies score a try under the posts. My notes go flying again and this time not from elation. They convert and we are down 18-16 9 minutes to go. Unreal turnaround as we had the best period of forward beastmodeness possibly ive ever seen in this 2nd half. Again though their is no panic amongst the team just all positive talk from the leaders. We force an error and again our forwards run hard in the set. 25m out Sam Cook fires a wide ball to Paulos Latu who is right in front of us and his eyes light up (no shit you could see it) and he pins his ears back for the corner and runs straight at the fullback and WHACK their is a massive collision but he gets the ball down TRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Wow!!!! I look at the clock and its 5 1/2 minutes left and as Mason Lines up the conversion he takes his time and we are having a laugh about it. He misses but we are ahead 20-18 2 minutes left. Then Magpies kick off and we run through our set but dont find touch on the last so the Magpies have 1 final crack. On tackle 3 Vete comes up with possibly the biggest hit of the year smashing George Jennings half way across Sydney. Tui catches the kick and we survive for a great great win in a tough match.
After the game the boys obviously knackered made sure they went around and thanked everyone for their support. Tui seemed to have a lot of family/friends at the game. Then Rubin came over for a quick chat, thanked us for our on going support then asked us to come in to the dressing room. So away we went and the Fan In The Stand found he was amongst their inner sanctrum. Coach Ricky Henry spoke briefly about how its been tough at the club for the past week but when they play over here in Sydney they like to get the family involved. He spoke about still having things to work on (didnt mention the process lol) and while it was a win they were not content. They then asked us to get the clapping going as the belted out the team song. Wicked moment. Then it was help our selves to the food and drink available which was everywhere. But we got a couple of photos and excused our selves as they then started to weight themselves and check their GPS movement. Ligi, Mason and Albert came up personally and thanked us for our support as they recognised us from previous games. Rubin as always wished us a safe trip home.
So as we left i started to think of a summary of the game
* 1 think i noticed that i havent seen for a long time was how vocal Tui was at fullback in defence. He was yelling and screaming at everyone non stop then in attack he was yahhoooing at every good play the made. he seemed heaps happy. They are a happy team.
* As mentioned before the wrestle and domination of the ruck is a standout of this team.
* If we have an even amount of possesion or even 45-55 spread we will always be in the game. The team has the leader and confidence to get this team over the line
* Papalii and Ogden played the whole 80
* Player of the match for me was Albert Vete. That 2nd half he was almost unstoppable, He barged, banged, burst and bopped over the defenders. Played bug minutes as well
* So my 3 2 1 was Vete, Ogden, Pat Sipley with honourable mentions to Tui and Mason
So i try and keep this page all about the Warriors Reserve Garde team but just want to mention the 1st grade team quickly. They are just a little was off. Its all attitude and that can be fixed, for example when Joel Thompson barged over for a try
Shaun Johnson had him held up but had no help. Thats attitude. Can be fixed for sure. Certainly not worth burning your jerseys over like those dumbs that done it. What were you trying to achieve??? You dont think the players are hurting??? What are you going to wear when we make the finals stupid dogshit nuts. Rather you come out and say hey look im not going to support the team anymore so i might give my jersey away to someone less fortuanate they might appreciate it more but nope they wanted attention idiot dicks.
Anyway i just want to give Coach Ricky Henry a wrap. Coach
Kearney gives him the guys that he cuts and im sure tells him what he wants from them, fitness, minutes etc so Henry responds and it is working. Im sure he is putting in his imput as well but hes got them playing as a team. A happy, confident bunch who rely and trust each other and have a fantastic attitude to the task at hand. When you think about it they have it hard with almost a days travel when they come here to Sydney. 2 hour check ins flight delays etc but on the flip side duty free ha. But doesnt matter where these guys play could be at Mt SMart number 2 ground in Auckland or Cuthberts Green in Christchurch or The Sacred Acre in Lyttelton or Aubrey Keech Reserve here in Sydney or Raqmahul Oval in Southern Syria, they are and play as 1 unit.
So as i drive home down the cumberline Highway looking for a KFC to pull into Im thinking that after the forward display today they surely must be in the frame for first grade. These guys dominate the ruck most weeks and WILL NOT let the opportunity down if given one. There time is NOW especially Vete and Sipley big boppers. Just a quick shout out as well to all the Warriors supporters that showed up. Richie, Tee Kay, Vera on the other side of the field and all the others that were there and read this. Next game in NSW is up in Newcastle. Next game for the team is in Auckland Saturday Night against the Bears curtain raising the First grade game against the Bronx. If ya can get there peeps, they are a great team to watch.
Fan In The Stand from Wentworthville Out
24 - 12
