{"id":89211,"date":"2026-08-10T11:44:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T01:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=89211"},"modified":"2026-08-10T11:44:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T01:44:25","slug":"nrl-round-24-wahs-warning-why-these-knights-are-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2026\/08\/nrl-round-24-wahs-warning-why-these-knights-are-different\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL Round 24: Wahs Warning + Why These Knights Are Different"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Wahs Warning<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Into $6.25 in the 2026 NRL Premiership market as of Monday morning, the New Zealand Warriors are all of a sudden in poll position for the approaching finals series.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we\u2019ve all fixated on Cronulla\u2019s five game streak (thanks, St George) or the Roosters 82-point warning shot in NRL Round 22, the Wahs have quickly climbed up the rankings with a dismantling of Penrith on Friday night.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In truth though, New Zealand have been building towards this for a while and didn\u2019t do a whole lot different against the Panthers last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, key to the Warriors success this year has been their consistency. They play a familiar brand of footy regardless of opposition, scoreboard pressure or personnel changes and it\u2019s a habit that will serve them well in the finals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It starts with a monster forward rotation. The Wahs are losing nothing when Tanner Stowers-Smith comes on for James Fisher-Harris right now and they even burned an extra sub on \u2018Fish\u2019 to get him back out there before halftime on Friday night.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an embarrassment of riches through the middle between Mitch Barnett, Fisher-Harris, Stowers-Smith, Jackson Ford or Dem Vaimauga and the major beneficiaries last week were Erin Clark and Luke Metcalf; two tries right beside the ruck as the Wahs made a mockery of the best defensive system in the NRL.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind a rolling ruck and some wizardry from Egan at dummy-half, Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita enjoyed a few extra yards of time and space on the edges, too.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metcalf\u2019s speed is what makes his ballplaying so effective. Defenders must<\/em> consider his run threat before moving on the pass and that\u2019s exactly what Nathan Cleary did on that right edge last week. Turned in to protect his inside shoulder, Cleary presented Kurt Capewell with half a hole and the backrower took it to the house before finding his halfback back on the inside.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve seen the highlights package from this game though, you\u2019ll know the best Wahs actions last week came one channel wider down that left edge\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leka Halasima\u2019s promotion to starting left centre may prove the deciding factor in the Warriors 2026 premiership campaign.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publicly preferred by Coach Andrew Webster in the bench forward rotation to begin the year, credit must go to the Warriors coaching staff for identifying and developing the need for a point-of-difference down that left edge since losing Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put simply, Halasima has been undeniable in two games at left centre in the past fortnight.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One try and one assist against the Gold Coast before another assist, 11 tackle busts and 239 run metres against Penrith last week has made Halasima an overnight success in the backline.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 41 receipts across those two games, perhaps Halasima\u2019s greatest quality right now though is his workrate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Active in yardage and a constant threat carrying the ball out of the backfield, Halasima is also doubling down as a genuine kick target on fifth tackle. To then back it up as the Wahs preferred play-to target inside-twenty is testament to Halasima\u2019s form with the ball in hand right now.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In attack, Harris-Tavita did a good job last week of giving his centre early ball with room to move.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a guy like Halasima, sometimes it’s best to just let them wind up rather than try to manufacture a certain look in the lead up. Jojo Fifita and Paul Alamoti have both struggled to contain him in the past two weeks and the spotlight now turns to Kotoni Staggs on the Broncos right edge this weekend.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand have played their way into third position on the NRL ladder courtesy of a consistent, reliable and repeatable system on both sides of the ball. With comfortably the second-best points differential in the competition after 20 games played, the numbers back this up.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To now introduce a luxury attacking piece like Halasima on top of an already-winning recipe is a big move from New Zealand with four games to play until finals\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NRL Round 23 Wrap<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Josh Hannay hasn\u2019t got much wrong in his maiden NRL campaign but where AJ Brimson<\/strong> lines up this week will be telling, after disappointing in the halves v North Queensland.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beloved Titan has done a fair job transitioning into the centres but struggled to execute on many of the ballplaying looks he earned at five-eighth on Thursday night. The flow-on effect that then had on Jayden Campbell goes a long way to highlighting the difference rookie halfback Zane Harrison has made to the Titans attack this year.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a season from hell, Storm fullback Sua Fa\u2019alogo<\/strong> continues to impress (and make me look stupid in the process). My doubts over his ability to excel in traditional and repeatable fullback involvements were completely silenced in NRL Round 23 as Fa\u2019alogo iced four scoring actions in Melbourne\u2019s fast finish.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A chip kick off an offload looked like a typical, highlight reel Fa\u2019alogo involvement but with no fullback behind the line and plenty of grass to at worst force a dropout, his first assist for Tyran Wishart was all class.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To then skip across four defenders and find Oryn Keeley instead of rolling the dice on any number of other high-risk options speaks to the development of Fa\u2019alogo this year. Two more raids down the left edge – both in traditional ballplaying fullback roles and both ending in four more points to the Storm – capped off an incredible night for Fa\u2019alogo in NRL Round 23.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Newcastle Knights<\/strong> are simply refusing to concede right now, overcoming the loss of both Bradman Best and Phoenix Crossland in a big win over Canberra on Sunday.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To lose two such productive players and hardly feel the pinch – in a week where the Knights were already without Jacob Saifiti, Dylan Brown & Dylan Lucas – speaks to the depth and quality of Newcastle\u2019s roster. Harrison Graham was superb deputising for Crossland at dummy-half while Fletcher Hunt continues to impress in every opportunity in first-grade.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Knights fight and scrap for everything on and off the ball, Kalyn Ponga<\/strong> and Fletcher Sharpe<\/strong> have done enough to be the difference in recent weeks. Whether they can do the same in the pressure of finals footy will soon become the question.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Into $6.25 in the 2026 NRL Premiership market as of Monday morning, the New Zealand Warriors are all of a sudden in poll position for the approaching finals series.   While we\u2019ve all fixated on Cronulla\u2019s five game streak (thanks, St George) or the Roosters 82-point warning shot in NRL Round 22, the Wahs have quickly climbed up the rankings with a dismantling of Penrith on Friday night.   In truth though, New Zealand have been building towards this for a while and didn\u2019t do a whole lot different against the Panthers last week.  Indeed, key to the Warriors success this year has been their consistency. They play a familiar brand of footy regardless…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":89213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-89211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby-league"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"10\/08\/2026","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89214,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89211\/revisions\/89214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89211"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=89211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}