Storm deal harsh lessons to the Warriors

By Michael Burgess

The Warriors are vowing to bounce back quickly, after one of the most frustrating defeats of their up-and-down 2024 season.

The Auckland team have suffered some tough losses this year, but the 38-24 reverse to the Melbourne Storm on Saturday night was a new low in some respects.

There was nothing wrong with their effort or attitude, on a night where they dominated most of the metrics that mattered. They had more yardage, a higher completion rate, considerably more post-contact metres and almost twice as many tackle busts.

They were also ferocious in their defence for long periods, driving the Storm back with gusto and grit. But the bare statistics don’t measure calmness, composure or decision-making, which were a major let down.

While the Storm were clinical and methodical, the Warriors lacked patience and game smarts and were vulnerable on both edges.

There were echoes of the defeats to the Sharks (round one) and Titans (round eight), as the home side failed to build on a strong start and then couldn’t make the most of subsequent momentum swings.

“It’s frustrating for the boys,” admitted coach Andrew Webster. “When you physically come with an attitude like that and they were so confident in themselves. [But] do we drop our bundle because we are frustrated or do we go back in, prepare the same, have the same level of confidence but get what we got wrong right? If you keep doing that and execute better, it will work.”

The Warriors were also severely punished for any mistakes and tormented by the kicking game of Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes, particularly in the first half.

“You go through games and make errors and sometimes they might hurt you,” reflected Webster. “[On Saturday] anything negative wasn’t little – it was massive. They took advantage of that.”

Mostly, it was around details, as the Warriors were outfoxed and out thought. As good as the Storm were, the Warriors conceded some cheap tries, a marked contrast to their resilient work of the past few weeks. While Melbourne exhibited their superb defensive organisation, the Warriors fell down in crucial moments, particularly on fifth-tackle plays, failing to anticipate or getting caught out of position.

“We lacked concentration in certain plays,” admitted captain Tohu Harris. “We were still turning up physically, doing a lot of good things but one play we might just switch off and they were really good at capitalising on those small opportunities that they got.”

The Warriors led 14-0 after 15 minutes, with the Storm all at sea, completing only one set in that period. “I can’t remember us starting that badly, to be honest,” said Storm coach Craig Bellamy. “You are not going to be able to get out of those situations all the time.”

The tide turned quickly, with the four-try Storm blitz before the break, for a 20-14 halftime lead they never rescinded. There were flashpoints throughout the match – and Melbourne were on the right side of some curious calls, as they often are, while also getting away with persistent encroaching on defence – but the Warriors were masters of their own misfortune.

They also struggled to compensate for the loss of Rocco Berry (shoulder) just before halftime, with the second-half sin bins of Marcelo Montoya and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak the final straw.

Shaun Johnson looked rusty upon his return, in his first match since mid-May. The revamped attacking model – with Te Maire Martin often in more of a lead role and Johnson positioned wider of the ruck – will be a work in progress, given it is a major adjustment to what has been seen for most of the Webster era.

“I didn’t feel Shaun got enough opportunities to show what he could do but [I was] completely comfortable with what Te Maire was doing too,” said Webster.

“We always knew we were going to slowly introduce new things. We spread the field really evenly, they both get an opportunity to shine. Shaun didn’t want to come back into the team and change it all.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission