2021 Review: Warriors

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Lachy MacCorquodale looks across the second 'on the road' season of the NZ Warriors, their first campaign under new coach Nathan Brown.

The Warriors finished the 2020 season in 10th position, a much better finish than any were predicting after finishing in 13th position at the conclusion of the 2019 season.

In 2020, the Warriors finished the season with five wins from their last nine outings, giving the football club signs of what might be in 2021.

To build on their solid finish, the Warriors added star forward Addin Fonua-Blake, Euan Aitken and rookie 18-year-old Reece Walsh to the mix in a bid to push for finals in the 2021 season. Throughout the season, the club also added Matt Lodge, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Chad Townsend (loan) to the squad. However, the club had seen George Jennings and Isaiah Papalii leave at the end of 2020 and both players went on to have a successful 2021 with their respective new clubs.

With hindsight, the loss of Papalii will hurt Warriors fans after he was named the Dally M Second Rower of the Year after a stellar season with the Parramatta Eels.

Nathan Brown took charge of the Warriors for the first time in 2021 and his side got off to the perfect start with a 13-point victory over the Gold Coast Titans in the opening week. After a four-point loss to the Newcastle Knights a week later, the Warriors pipped 2020 finals side the Canberra Raiders by three points. After two wins in the opening three weeks, the Warriors would only go on to win three of their next 15 matches. A loss early in this run to the then-struggling Manly will be a game that the Warriors will want back after losing to a Daly Cherry-Evans field goal.

However, the three wins in that period were scarce, coming in round 6 (vs. St. George Illawarra), round 8 (vs. North Queensland) and round 11 (vs. Wests Tigers), the last of which was in a game which saw Reece Walsh tear the joint venture apart. After the victory over the Tigers, the Warriors were sitting in ninth spot with about half the season to play. Frustratingly, they proceed to lose their next seven fixtures, which saw them slide down to 14th place at the conclusion of the 19th round. Then, surprisingly, the Warriors turned it on, winning three straight games against the Wests Tigers, Cronulla and Canterbury as they pushed for a late run at the top eight. It wasn't to be though, as the Warriors failed in their three final outings of the season against Brisbane, Canberra and a campaign-ending 44-point drubbing against the Gold Coast Titans in the final round of the season.

12th place is where their season ended, with eight wins and 16 losses to their name, a bit of a disappointing end after having won the same number of games the previous season in a shortened 20-week competition.

Turning Point

The Warriors signed 18-year-old Reece Walsh just prior to the start of the season with the intention of the youngster joining the club from 2022 onwards. However, in early April the Warriors convinced the Broncos to let him join the club early, and what a decision that was.

The young fullback was close to pipping Sam Walker for the Rookie of the Year award and cruelly suffered an injury in the lead up to Origin Game Two, in which Walsh was supposed to debut for Queensland.

The injury didn't keep the youngster out for long as he played 16 games with the Warriors this season, scoring nine tries and assisting a further 11. The now 19-year-old proved to be a handful for opposition defences as he broke 3.3 tackles per game and made 14 line-breaks in his 16 appearances.

He still has plenty of work to do but his inclusion to the side brought some much-needed energy which was on show for all in their round 11 victory of the Tigers. However, the club did struggle with consistency for the majority of the season, but things are looking positive for the Warriors.

What Worked

Despite missing nine games with injury, the addition of Addin Fonua-Blake added some much-needed fire power to the Warriors middle. In his 15 games, Fonua-Blake ran for 160 run metres per game whilst getting through 26 tackles per outing.

The 25-year-old prop forward also broke 33 tackles in his 15 matches and when he was paired with Matt Lodge during the second half of the season, the Warriors looked much improved in the middle.

Lodge only played six games for the Warriors in 2021, but made his mark felt in those appearances. The former Bronco averaged 126 run metres and 27 tackles per game with the Warriors in 21 and broke 24 tackles in those six outings. Warriors fans should be excited to see these two build some chemistry together over the course of the 2022 season.

What Didn't Work

It seems like Chanel Harris-Tevita will pair Shaun Johnson in the halves for the 2022 season which will be an improvement upon their scrumbse pairing from 2021.

Harris-Tevita struggled to stay on the field, playing just 11 matches this season, but looks the better player out of him and Kodi Nikorima. Nikorima didn't have the worst season, scoring four tries and assisting 11 in his 21 outings, but the 27-year-old found himself on the bench from rounds 20 through to 24 and was 18th man in the final game of the season.

The Warriors could've used the presence of Shaun Johnson this season. You'd expect him to start in the halves when next season kicks off, which will have the Warriors fans salivating as the former Warrior returns home after providing six assists in his limited 10 game season for Cronulla this year. His inclusion should benefit almost everyone in the starting side for the 2022 season.

Best Players

The aforementioned Walsh and Fonua-Blake were some of the better players to don the Warriors jersey in 2021, but there were two players in particular who caught my eye. Firstly, Josh Curran was superb this season as he locked down a back-row spot late in the season. The 22-year-old was an absolute workhorse for the Warriors as he averaged 79 metres and 39 tackles per game. These averages changed 94.5 metres and 44.6 tackles per game in his eight starts in the second row. The youngster will be looking to improve on this next year and can hopefully benefit from the addition of Shaun Johnson to the squad.

Finally, Tohu Harris, as always was another superb player for the Warriors this season. Despite his injury-shortened season, the 29-year-old averaged 103 run metres and 41 tackles per game in his 15 outings for 2021. The lock forward managed to grab three tries this season, his most since his last campaign with the Melbourne Storm in 2017. Again, he'll be another player to benefit from the addition of Shaun Johnson and with Harris fit and firing in 2022, he'll be set for another big season.

Rookies

Again, Walsh was spoken about earlier, but I'd like to address Rocco Berry here. The 20-year-old New Zealand junior played in eight games this season, debuting in round seven against the Melbourne Storm. Berry crossed the line on three occasions and broke eight tackles in his eight games. The centre only averaged 52 run metres this season, but that should increase as the youngster gains experience. He'll be in for a bigger 2022 season.

Looking Ahead

The Warriors have the chance to be a smokey for a top eight side in 2022, if they can manage to keep their players on the park.

The loss of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to Rugby Union will hurt, but the side from across the ditch will add Shaun Johnson, Aaron Pene and Ashley Taylor into the mix for the 2022 season. You'd expect Johnson to walk into the starting side, with Aaron Pene competing in the forward rotation, which will add some extra go-forward to an already solid forward pack. Ash Taylor mightn't feature too much in 2022, but for the deal he's on, it's a solid player to have in the squad as he'll no doubt ensure the halves ahead of him are on their toes whilst he tries to knock the door down.

The Warriors should improve on their eight wins from this season, but most said the same at the start of this season, so we'll find out next year how they do, but I do expect them to improve and if they can get on a roll they could sneak into the top eight.

Keep across 2022 Player Movements for the NRL season across all 16 clubs here.

2021 results

(NOTE - 'N' in H/A column indicates match played at a neutral venue)

2021 player record

All stats courtesy of RugbyLeagueProject.