Round 4: Warriors v Bulldogs preview
After a surprising and confidence building victory over the North Queensland Cowboys on the weekend, the Warriors return home to New Zealand, welcoming the 2-1 Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs to Mt Smart Stadium.
It's the Warriors first outing at Mt Smart this season after winning their opening game of the season in Wellington and they take some nice form into this clash. They've won two of their three games so far with their only loss coming against the Sydney Roosters as they fought valiantly in an eight-point loss.
In their most recent outing, the Warriors fought back from an early deficit to win by 14-points in Townsville thanks to a Te Maire Martin masterclass as the 27-year-old contributed with two try assists and three line break assists. He'll be crucial once again this weekend against the Bulldogs and his combination with Shaun Johnson will only get better with each match they play together.
It showed on the weekend as they moved this side around the park to show to the rest of the competition that the Warriors aren't push overs this season. Led by Tohu Harris, playing his 200th game, the Warriors completed 80 percent of their sets and fell just short of 2000 run metres as they looked dangerous in attack.
If they can bring this attacking output into Sunday's clash, they'll give the Bulldogs a run for their money. However, the Warriors will be without hooker Wayde Egan who misses the match after a head knock on the weekend and his absence will be felt, having played an effective role out of dummy-half.
It'll be up to his replacement, Freddy Lussick, to bring the Warriors forwards onto the ball which will be needed after the Bulldogs forward pack put together an impressive performance against the Wests Tigers.
The Bulldogs pack played immensely on Sunday, especially in the first half, moving the ball down the middle of the field with ease and preventing the Tigers forwards from doing the same. Max King and Jacob Preston in particular were excellent, both eclipsing 130 metres in their four-point victory.
Five-Eighth Matt Burton was superb on Sunday and his combination with new recruit Viliame Kikau is only getting better with each match, this is a duo to watch out for. Kikau is starting to find his feet in Belmore, breaking four tackles, running for 84 metres and generally attracting a lot of attention from opposition defences.
Although, the most impressive aspect of the Bulldogs has been their back five. They all hit the triple figure mark on the weekend and whenever they are given space to work with, they look incredibly dangerous. It's where they did most of their damage against the Melbourne Storm two weeks ago.
The Warriors need to reduce the impact of this back five. They're heavily used in returning the ball for the Bulldogs and a good kicking performance from Martin and Johnson can reduce the impact they have. The next step is to limit their impact if the ball is shifted early in the tackle count, the Bulldogs utilised this well against Melbourne and they'll no doubt look to it this weekend. So the Warriors back five have a big matchup ahead of them.
The home side can strike with their own weapons in the back five and all focus will be on Marcelo Montoya after his mammoth performance on the weekend. A double, 246 metres, three line breaks and six tackle breaks for winger and he'll be looking to give it to his former club.
A bonus for the Warriors back five is the return of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad who returns from a head injury, taking the place of youngers Taine Tuaupiki. Jackson Ford bolsters their forward pack as he also returns from a head injury and Mitch Barnett drops out with a neck injury.
The Bulldogs have named the same 17 from their victory over the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
Last meeting: Round 22 2022 - Warriors 42 Bulldogs 18
Who to watch: After an impressive performance on the weekend, Te Maire Martin will draw close attention from the Dogs. It's good to see the five-eighth back and enjoying his footy after a tough few years and he'll be looking for more try assists this weekend. Winger Marcelo Montoya is one to keep an eye on after arguably his best performance of his career. Montoya is averaging 204 metres per game this season and that sort of yardage will be incredibly important for the Warriors on Sunday. Tohu Harris had his usual workmanlike performance in his 200th game, finishing with 142 metres and 41 tackles. His other performances this season have yielded 145 and 144 metres and 51 and 60 tackles.
19-year-old Paul Alamoti has made an impressive start to his NRL career and is hardly showing his age as he impresses with each performance. He was outstanding against the Storm and the Tigers with three try assists and 381 metres combined in those outings. The man outside him, Josh Addo-Carr, has benefitted massively with his two tries against the Tigers coming from Alamoti but ‘the fox' is looking dangerous as ever, already with 17 tackle breaks this season. World Cup winner, Matt Burton, was quiet in his first two outings, but turned it on against the Tigers with a try, five tackle breaks and 141 metres. He will no doubt be sending some massive torpedos towards the Warriors kick returners and their ability to defuse these will have a massive impact on the game.
Favourite: This is a fairly even matchup given the form of both sides and the home ground advantage in the Warriors favour. That probably gives them the slight edge in terms of favouritism, and they also have won four straight against the Dogs dating back to 2019.
My tip: I really don't know which way this one will go, I can see either team coming away with the victory. The Warriors have performed well in all three of their matches, the Bulldogs in two, however, those two were quite convincing. I have to go with the home side in a one point thriller. Warriors by one point.
