The message Webster told the Warriors before upsetting Manly

By Michael Burgess

In their final meeting before Friday’s clash with Manly, Warriors coach Andrew Webster had a simple message for his squad. Aside from the tactics, the strategy and the micro analysis of what was to come, Webster just wanted the team to show their true colours.

“Our biggest game plan this week was – we have to look like ourselves,” said Webster. “The meeting before [Friday] was ‘Boys we have to be ourselves. We have to look like the way we want to play and if you are, you will create your own luck against really good players”.

That hadn’t happened in Las Vegas – not even close – in a disjointed, ugly display against Canberra that had fans and pundits scratching their heads. Thankfully, the Warriors revealed their true selves on Friday night, in the impressive 36-16 win over the Sea Eagles.

It was far from perfect – with some defensive issues, particularly in the first quarter – and an attack that only clicked in fits and starts. But it was light years away from round one, showing a template of what could be possible in 2025. There is a long way to the finished product but this performance offered a foundation, at the very least.

“You could see we looked like a team and even when we faced adversity, we gathered ourselves really well and the boys stuck together,” said Webster.

The result was built on a dominant forward effort. Aside from the first 15 minutes, the Warriors pack edged their opposites. Lock Erin Clark was outstanding (149 metres from 18 runs, with 22 tackles) but there were plenty of strong performers. Mitch Barnett and James Fisher-Harris led from the front, Wayde Egan made good decisions from dummy half and topped the tackle count (41) while second rower Marata Niukore played like he had something to prove, with a big impact on the right edge.

Off the back of that foundation, halves Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita could prosper. Both had some nice touches on attack – with Harris-Tavita scoring the crucial first try – and generally kicked well. It was an important night for Metcalf in particular, in only his second NRL match at No 7, recovering from a tentative start to come home strong.

“A couple of things early on didn’t go his way but he broke through that moment, starting icing opportunities, kicked a couple of really big goals and you could see him building confidence from there,” said Webster. “He handled the mental occasion really well”.

Webster reiterated that the heavy criticism directed at Metcalf in the wake of Las Vegas had been unfair, given the shortcomings of the entire team that night. The halfback ended Friday’s match with a badly bloodied nose but the club have confirmed there was no break, only a deep cut.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the Warriors’ performance was their resilience. They recovered from a hot Manly start to go ahead, then held the Sea Eagles at arm’s length throughout the second half, as the Sydney team threatened a comeback. But there is plenty of improvement needed, as the Warriors benefited from a lop-sided six again count and a number of Manly mistakes.

“If you look at our attack, we are not where we want to be,” admitted Webster. “But we stuck together this week. No one is going to be perfect in the early rounds but you have to defend well and chase well and points will come off the back of that.”

It was a satisfying way to round out a long preparation, with a 12-day gap between their return from North America and Friday’s match.

“There was a bit of pain there,” said Webster. “We had worked so hard all pre-season and we didn’t look like the way we wanted to look like. It was a long time but we needed that time to regroup and actually have it sit in our stomach for a bit. It’s just round two. We are happy we got the win but we have got a lot of work to do and we have to get back to it.”

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