Wah Wah Wahs: It’s our year!
That was the call from all New Zealanders heading into 2024 as Warriors fever gripped the nation.
The team was coming off a preliminary final and the club’s best season in a long time, national hero Shaun Johnson played his best footy in a decade, Addin Fonua-Blake was the best prop in the world., Andrew Webster was the next superstar coach and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was returning.
It has not gone to plan.
The Warriors are back in the bottom four with just three wins from 10 games, the problems have been plentiful and are not about to improve anytime soon.
The Warriors have had injuries but those injuries aren’t going away with Shaun Johnson now set for an extended period on the sideline and Luke Metcalf still nowhere to be seen.
Losing Metcalf, stunningly, has proven a brutal blow for the Warriors, taking away the one player with any individual creativity.
In the six games he has missed, the Warriors have beaten only Souths and have averaged just 16.8 points per game in their last five.
It is with the ball that they are really throwing their season away, Andrew Webster did a great job reviving Shaun Johnson’s career but he seems to be without answers with Johnson not being able to recapture last year’s form and the Warriors becoming wholly unpredictable.
It is really now or never too for the Warriors.
Addin Fonua-Blake is heading home and Shaun Johnson may not have another year left in him. Webster needs to act and act fast to fix the staid, predictable attack we have seen from the Warriors in 2024.
Blues in Crisis on Horror Weekend for Injuries: There have been few weekends in recent history that have seen more superstars downed with Nathan Cleary, Tom Trbojevic and Shaun Johnson all suffering long-term injuries with AJ Brimson, Kieran Foran, Phillip Sami, John Bateman, Billy Walters, Tyson Gamble and Tyson Frizell also hurt.
Nicho Hynes and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck missed with late-week injuries, while those absences are all going to, breaking news, negatively impact their individual teams, the most compelling story out of this is what new Blues coach Michael Maguire plans to do.
The halves are in disarray with Nathan Cleary one of the few certainties to be picked.
Maguire is reportedly considering Mitchell Moses, which would be ridiculous considering how little he has played this season.
Nicho Hynes, considering he is fit, should be a certainty, Cody Walker starred in game three last year but is going awful.
Jarome Luai couldn’t get it done with a perfect setup so is another who has to be ignored.
The job must surely go to Matt Burton and if Burton is overlooked, it could be worth the risk to get Dylan Edwards into the five-eighth position.
Tom Trbojevic’s injury opens up a centre spot too and one that will not easily be filled.
Given how well Bradman Best played last year, he will have his nose in front of Kotoni Staggs though Burton would surely be the selection if not picked in the halves.
Resting Ridiculousness: Most workplaces across Australia grant around four weeks annual leave maximum.
It is incredibly rare for people to be not only allowed to take leave during their busiest periods, let alone have it suggested by their boss but it is the complete opposite with the NRL referees.
Despite only being required for 33 weeks of the season, Graham Anneseley has signed off on one of the dumbest policies of all time, allowing referees to be rested for reasons that are as clear as his press conferences.
So on a weekend where the NRL issued a statement that they were cracking down on dissent, the competition’s two best referees in Adam Gee and Todd Smith were rested.
It is laughable that when the game is enduring such a severe epidemic of officiating stupidity that the best are being rested.
Annesley needs to go and he needs to go now.
Referee Power Rankings: We are 10 weeks down.
We have seen what we have seen from referees so here are the power rankings.
Note that a high ranking is relative and does not mean a good grade.
1. Adam Gee
2. Todd Smith
3. Ashley Klein
4. Grant Atkins
5. Belinda Sharpe
6. Gerard Sutton
7. Wyatt Raymond
8. Liam Kennedy
9. Ziggy Przelklasa-Adamski
10. Peter Gough
11. Chris Butler
12. Kasey Badger
From The Couch Round 9: This piece will no longer be available on any forum.
Betting Close Calls: This week’s close betting calls:
- Overs punters in the Broncos-Eels clash are still in the corner rocking back-and-forth, driven to complete insanity with the 44.5 a ½ point too much as the Eels bombed try after try with not a single point scored in the final 23 minutes.
- Knights -3.5 punters survived by the slimmest of margins against the Tigers.
- Storm and over punters endured one of the worst finishes imaginable when the Dan Atkinson field goal put the Sharks up one and then the short kick led to a converted try, securing a Sharks win and the total going over by a ½ point.
- Titans +3.5 punters were laughing until the final 10 minutes when the game went from 20-0 to 20-18 and was only saved when Kyle Feldt was pushed into touch with a minute remaining.
2024 Field Goal Update – 13: Zac Lomax has established himself as the king of the two-point field goal, kicking his second of the season, while Dan Atkinson slotted his first in the NRL with a sublime one-pointer that put the Sharks up 19-18 with six minutes to go.
Fun Fact #1: Mitch Kenny leads the NRL in missed tackles this season, missing 5.38 per game.
Fun Fact #2: Zac Lomax leads the NRL in handling errors with 22.
Fun Fact #3: Izack Tago has conceded the most penalties this season with 12.
Willie M Team of the Week: This week’s team of the unqualified, the underperforming and the uncouth:
1.Latrell Mitchell (Sou) 2.Semi Valemei (NQ) 3.Valentine Holmes (NQ) 4.Adam Pompey (NZ) 5.Brent Naden (Tig) 6.Te Maire Martin (NZ) 7.Jayden Sullivan (Tig)
8.Sean Keppie (Sou) 9.Damien Cook (Sou) 10.Reagan Campbell-Gillard (Par) 11.Mitch Barnett (NZ) 12.Jaeman Salmon (Bul) 13.Siliva Havili (Sou)
14.Fonua Pole (Tig) 15.Harrison Edwards (NQ) 16.Kelma Tuilagi (Par) 17.Alex Seyfarth (Tig)
Rumour Mill: Jake Averillo is believed to be homesick and has been linked with a return to Sydney with the Dragons and Roosters his most likely destinations. David Fifita’s signing is likely to lead to a shift for Angus Crichton with the Dragons, Panthers, Eels and Tigers all in the mix. Matt Moylan is aiming at an NRL return and given the sparsity of halves, he will likely find a club.
The Coaching Crosshairs: Plenty of pressure has been heaped on embattled Eels coach Brad Arthur but some of the heat should be turned on North Queensland coach Todd Payten, who has done such a poor job with an adequate roster that his position should come under severe scrutiny.
The Cowboys have lost their last five – having jumped favourites in three – and have missed the finals in two of three years under his stewardship.
Under Payten, the Cowboys are 41-43 and that includes their 18-8 2022 season.
There are plenty of reasons to question whether Payten is up for the job as his talent identification and ability to recruit is about as bad as any current coach in the game.
Tom Dearden and Scott Drinkwater joined the club after failing to secure spots at their previous teams but other recruits on his watch have been borderline criminal including handing Chad Townsend a long-term contract, bringing over Jamayne Taunoa-Brown and signing the likes of the horrific Semi Valemei while bringing back James Tamou and Jake Clifford.
Over that time Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Tom Gilbert and Connelly Lemuelu have gone on to thrive at the Dolphins.
Good players don’t want to play for Payten and players who leave go better away from him.
His team selections are bordering on criminal, including picking Semi Valemei week after week.
There has been almost no work done on the defensive frailties of the team including teaching international backrower Jeremiah Nanai how to tackle.
If North Queensland plan on doing anything in the near future, examining their coaching situation should be their starting point
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Cameron Ciraldo has Jacob Preston available yet persists on playing Jaeman Salmon.
The Bulldogs have done a remarkable job in 2024 and are absolutely a team on the rise but Ciraldo’s Baby Reindeer-esque obsession with playing Salmon, particularly now Preston is back, is only hurting the Bulldogs.
Salmon has few physical attributes that make him a quality NRL player and his workrate is nothing outstanding so when he plays so dumb he touches a ball that hasn’t gone 10m from a dropout, completely swinging possession and field position, it is clear he offers nothing.
It may have cost the Bulldogs the win and Ciraldo cannot allow that to happen any more.
Watch It: Valentine Holmes has now managed to cost the Cowboys twice in two weeks and has bottled it at the death three times this season and he will never endure a more humiliating moment than what his laziness created on Sunday when he botched a try that required him to merely fall over.
Rather than fall over, Holmes for some reason tried to get past the Titans fullback halfway into the in-goal.
The result was this. Watch it here.