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Speaker 1: Big League Podcast, League Podcast Poet by News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2: This week on The Big League Podcast, Warriors hooker Sam
Speaker 2: Healey joins to discuss his eleventh hour caller for the
Speaker 2: statement thumping of the Sharks, the continued rise of the
Speaker 2: squad's youngsters, and how Wade Egan has helped take his
Speaker 2: game to another level. Michael Burgas and I will analyze
Speaker 2: what the Kronella victory means, discuss whether the Warriors have
Speaker 2: the best junior cohort in the competition, and give the
Speaker 2: side a roughly mid season report card.
Speaker 3: My name is Nathan Limb. Let's go b LB.
Speaker 2: Jacob Laban, Demitric Weimunger and Leka Hala Sema are the
Speaker 2: strongest trio of youngsters in the NRRAL. All had outstanding
Speaker 2: performances in what was really a shock forty to ten
Speaker 2: pencing of the show in Crnella Vy among that with
Speaker 2: premiere ball running defense, his distribution to put James Fisher
Speaker 2: Harris in a hole for an easy try. Laban with
Speaker 2: strong moments on both sides of the ball early in
Speaker 2: the contest, and Halasima, for such a big bloke, is
Speaker 2: proving to be a weapon in the year. When you
Speaker 2: throw in Ali Latawa and Sam Heay, the Warriors aren't
Speaker 2: just looking good for this year, They're looking good for
Speaker 2: the next five. Michael Burgess, Senior New Zealand Herald ryder.
Speaker 2: How much has that victory and the Warrior's next generation
Speaker 2: of players.
Speaker 4: Surprised you, Nathan, Yeah, two big questions. I mean that
Speaker 4: that performance was remarkable. I think that's the thing is
Speaker 4: every so often in the Warriors season you get a
Speaker 4: performance that makes you sit up and go wow. The
Speaker 4: thing is, we've already had a few performances this season
Speaker 4: we were sat up and gone well, like some of
Speaker 4: the close wins, the way they defended against the Cowboys
Speaker 4: for what seemed like forever, and there's been I thought
Speaker 4: the Dragons was an exceptional effort. There's already been a couple,
Speaker 4: but this one, you're like, far out this team. They've
Speaker 4: done this to what you call a heavyweight contender, you know,
Speaker 4: and they didn't just beat them, they blew them away
Speaker 4: at home. Quite a tough place to play. Not many
Speaker 4: Kiwi fans, not many Warriors fans go to that part
Speaker 4: of Sydney. You put all that together and you're thinking, well,
Speaker 4: the question about where is this team going is now
Speaker 4: more like how high?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I mean they enjoy it top of the
Speaker 2: ladder again on twenty two points with the Raiders and
Speaker 2: the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs at the time we're recording this
Speaker 2: on the Mondays, the Bulldogs still have to play the
Speaker 2: Eels tonight. Presumably they get the job done and go
Speaker 2: to twenty four. But the Warriors, I mean, at this
Speaker 2: point we're going into the buy now, but so guaranteed
Speaker 2: two points. There's two elements to this and we will
Speaker 2: go through all of it. It's the way in which
Speaker 2: the Warriors played themselves. But also so I think everyone
Speaker 2: was a bit shocked at how poorly the Sharks played
Speaker 2: and the Roosters put forty points on them a couple
Speaker 2: of weeks ago, and wasn't sure whether we read a
Speaker 2: lot into that they were coming off the buy.
Speaker 3: But for me, the Sharks, it was two things.
Speaker 2: The Sharks were particularly disappointing, but the Warriors, I was
Speaker 2: struggling to come up with criticisms and improvements.
Speaker 4: You go through the Warriors team one to seventeen and
Speaker 4: everyone had good moments. Everyone played well, which you know
Speaker 4: doesn't always happen in the Ireland. The team Sport Cornell.
Speaker 4: You're right, they've just lost their edge. They've lost their
Speaker 4: edge slightly because it's the same Cranella team that beat
Speaker 4: the Melbourne Storm earlier this season. To beat the Storm,
Speaker 4: you've got to play well. They were really good in
Speaker 4: round one against Benrith. They're still in their roster is
Speaker 4: still pretty awesome, awesome forward pack. They've just lost something,
Speaker 4: which happens. I think they'll probably get it back. I
Speaker 4: don't think they were that poor. I thought they were
Speaker 4: pretty good in the first half and on another night
Speaker 4: there could have been ahead. That was the thing. They
Speaker 4: certainly had more opportunities. But the Warrior's defense just so
Speaker 4: so resilient at the moment. And to answer your early
Speaker 4: question about the next generation, as they surprised me, yes,
Speaker 4: because it's their consistency. Like I've seen a lot of
Speaker 4: young players come and go in my time covering the Warriors,
Speaker 4: and what normally happens is they'll come in, they have
Speaker 4: a couple of good games, then they have a flat
Speaker 4: period they have to go back to reserve grab then
Speaker 4: they might come back. But the three guys you mentioned
Speaker 4: have played I'm trying to think they've all played more
Speaker 4: than ten games a season. HALLI seem has played a
Speaker 4: lot more, and they've been pretty consistent every game. And
Speaker 4: for guys nineteen twenty twenty one to be doing that
Speaker 4: is remarkable. It's because it's partly because the team's going
Speaker 4: so well, but it's been a fantastic surprise.
Speaker 2: Now Warrior's coach Andrew Webster will hear from him just now.
Speaker 2: He says the performance was needed in the absence of
Speaker 2: injured co captain Mitch Barnett.
Speaker 4: Not China the Army, but trying to just be better.
Speaker 2: At what every player does and bring more dayboring. I
Speaker 2: thought that, and I think that was the other thing
Speaker 2: that I noticed about this one is that I kind
Speaker 2: of forgot that we were missing the our front line
Speaker 2: prop pretty much. That's how good the performance is. What
Speaker 2: we're of our middle forwards. And you took about Labour
Speaker 2: and Vaimonga, especially in the carriers that they had sort
Speaker 2: of early in this game. It's not like I suppose
Speaker 2: with these new players, it's not that they're just coming
Speaker 2: on for a few minutes prior to a bit of
Speaker 2: impact off the interchange. These players are starting, they're playing
Speaker 2: big minutes, and they're carrying this team up the middle
Speaker 2: of the park.
Speaker 4: Making really big contributions in different ways. Like you said
Speaker 4: in your intro, and we were missing the Warriors, missing
Speaker 4: the most effective prop. I think you saw a bit
Speaker 4: at the start though they were doing quite a few
Speaker 4: early shifts. They were going a bit wider than normal.
Speaker 4: That was on purpose, I think, to get away from
Speaker 4: some of the collisions in the middle, because they know
Speaker 4: how Crenell has got a big pack, so they didn't
Speaker 4: just want to take them up the middle. Because it
Speaker 4: is hard without Barnett. The test will be can they
Speaker 4: keep doing that without him? Like in some ways you
Speaker 4: respond the first time, but to keep doing it over
Speaker 4: another eleven games, that's hard to be honest, mate. I
Speaker 4: thought that Andrew Webster got it exactly right the way
Speaker 4: he dealt with the Mitch Barnett situation, and that came
Speaker 4: through to the performance because he didn't hide from it.
Speaker 4: He said, this is a blow, this is this is
Speaker 4: bloody terrible for Mitch. It's really tough for us, but
Speaker 4: we've got to move on. But I really thought he
Speaker 4: was good with the players the way he said to them,
Speaker 4: you don't have to try and be Mitch Bunnett. You
Speaker 4: just got to all be a bit better. And that's
Speaker 4: what they did.
Speaker 2: Now we're going to hear from Warrior's hook at Sam
Speaker 2: Heay next, who was brought in at the eleventh hour
Speaker 2: for the injured Wade Egan. But first here are the
Speaker 2: highlights Warriors, forty Sharks, ten sharks of.
Speaker 3: The hockey playing on all the.
Speaker 5: Wake, sawret he reached the sky and pun't sit down.
Speaker 5: Aristovada will Chip early saw himself up against Kennedy.
Speaker 3: He uses it.
Speaker 5: Turn it down by Adam Topic Trendle quick its hero
Speaker 5: because I've got them.
Speaker 3: It's Horreaddy who.
Speaker 5: Points it down. They eventually filled me in your area
Speaker 5: for there are shots everywhere in Rosto gram Trendle, Tevila,
Speaker 5: He's goes get charging through and Fisher Harris he went
Speaker 5: in untouched. What a piece of deception is mentalming and Lily.
Speaker 4: Scoop dressed to say no longer kill a way.
Speaker 3: He want use her in again.
Speaker 4: Arrista Vita, I need to get the contest I.
Speaker 3: Do and coming down with it is looker have the
Speaker 3: same out Aristavada turns a.
Speaker 4: Dun you and he just goes straight through the start.
Speaker 5: The party, now you bas fans, Haris.
Speaker 4: De Veta light.
Speaker 5: Straight to Harris de Vita, nobody in front of him, Simnels, Harris.
Speaker 3: Sta Veda rams a double deep.
Speaker 4: In the second part.
Speaker 3: Audio courtesy of Fox Sports The Big League Podcast.
Speaker 2: Michael Burgess got a quick chat with Sam Healey following
Speaker 2: the landmark victory over the Sharks.
Speaker 3: Let's take a listen.
Speaker 4: Why do you think things win so well? Tonight's the
Speaker 4: team I think.
Speaker 6: Just obviously putting off all we've been doing the last
Speaker 6: couple of months is been pretty successful for us, and
Speaker 6: having all those tight games and obviously coming through with
Speaker 6: the Windsay, tonight, we just sort of stuck in it
Speaker 6: and got some points, which was good.
Speaker 4: Looked like a real sort of confidence about the team
Speaker 4: from the start. And also intensity. Yeah, for sure, I
Speaker 4: were ready to go to this game.
Speaker 6: I think when you can are going to turn on
Speaker 6: to play and I'm out to We had to bring
Speaker 6: our bring our best, so we had to start with
Speaker 6: that intensity.
Speaker 4: I think we did that. And what about you? How
Speaker 4: were you feeling running out there? How are you feeling
Speaker 4: at the start of the game.
Speaker 6: It's a bit weird, to be honest, run out different colors.
Speaker 6: Obviously played a lot at Shuck Park in the juniors
Speaker 6: and stuff for Corna. But it was good, mate, It
Speaker 6: was good to be able to run out of here
Speaker 6: and get the win.
Speaker 4: Can you just tell us about your day today, Sam,
Speaker 4: how it's sort of unfolded? And also when you actually
Speaker 4: found out you were going to play? I understand this
Speaker 4: morning you were thinking still in yourself, for I was
Speaker 4: cup can you so, can you just tell us about
Speaker 4: your day?
Speaker 6: Yeah? I found out about probably I don't know, maybe
Speaker 6: ten eleven o'clock where he pulled me aside and said
Speaker 6: there's a chance, and I said, oh right, I didn't
Speaker 6: really know. And then about twenty minutes later I looked
Speaker 6: at waiter and he didn't He didn't look too good,
Speaker 6: so I thought, yeah, yeah, I'm probably hon here. So yeah,
Speaker 6: that was when I sort of come to the realization
Speaker 6: I was playing so to get light around it.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I was all right. So you woke up
Speaker 4: this morning thinking about yourself? I was cut. I mean,
Speaker 4: how hard was it?
Speaker 6: Well?
Speaker 4: How did you get your hit around it? The fact
Speaker 4: that you were playing on such a big occasion.
Speaker 6: No, I think it's all like wheb, you just sort
Speaker 6: of spoke to me and Wade, I spoke to me,
Speaker 6: but sort of just simplifying my role and just backing
Speaker 6: myself and having confidence that I can do the job.
Speaker 6: Which if they have the confidence in me, that's that's
Speaker 6: enough for me. So yeah, I felt I felt pretty
Speaker 6: good to guy out there and then I could do it.
Speaker 4: Bob. What does it mean to you to have your
Speaker 4: first start back at Cornella and to be part of
Speaker 4: a team performance like that.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Mane, it's pretty special. Obviously growing up on the
Speaker 6: hill down are at Cornella and been there. Oh I
Speaker 6: knows how many shark scenes, and obviously man playing here
Speaker 6: and I have a pretty successful career down here at Carnella.
Speaker 6: It's pretty cool to come back and get the win,
Speaker 6: a family and friends on the health so it's good.
Speaker 4: Is there a bit of mixed emotions though with effect
Speaker 4: how much the sharks have meant to your family and
Speaker 4: especially to your father, No, I don't think so.
Speaker 6: Look, that's that's sort of I've sort of moved on
Speaker 6: from that, and I'm worried now. So now I'm just
Speaker 6: really happy to be part of the group. That we're
Speaker 6: in and that we're charging their own so that's good.
Speaker 4: Can just tell us Sam about your decision to come
Speaker 4: to Auckland, how it sort of came about and how
Speaker 4: the decision process was for you.
Speaker 6: It's just an opportunity to play roll. And obviously where
Speaker 6: he spoke to Webby, my early tap with him is
Speaker 6: really positive and he sort of like spoke to me
Speaker 6: in a really positive way and that he believed in
Speaker 6: me and he thought I could I could genuinely, genuinely
Speaker 6: be at a number nine in the NRL and that's
Speaker 6: all I needed. Someone to believe in men have confidence
Speaker 6: in me, and that was enough for me to come
Speaker 6: over and have the opportunity to play in an role.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was not for me.
Speaker 4: And what was the process like of sort of joining
Speaker 4: the club and getting i don't know, getting amongst the
Speaker 4: group and proving yourself and fitting in and all that
Speaker 4: sort of thing.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it was a bit difficult obviously, first time living
Speaker 6: out at home and got on a one way plot
Speaker 6: of New Zealand, which was pretty daunting. Walking into the
Speaker 6: shed that first day was it was like nothing I'd
Speaker 6: ever done before. But for me, I needed to test
Speaker 6: myself and get out of my comfort zone and I
Speaker 6: think I've grown a lot from it, so yeah, it's
Speaker 6: super positive.
Speaker 4: And how is how was life in Auckland, you know,
Speaker 4: away from footy? How's life been for you in Auckland? No,
Speaker 4: it's good.
Speaker 6: Obviously, got got a house and that I lived with
Speaker 6: a couple of boys that I played with, so it's good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, good to have a couple.
Speaker 6: Of mates there and obviously building connections within the group,
Speaker 6: and it's just really good to be in a training
Speaker 6: with how well the squad's.
Speaker 4: Doing and everything? Yeah, yeah, who are you flirting with?
Speaker 6: Tadastell Smith's I live with him and a couple of the.
Speaker 4: Cup boys, so oh cool. Well that's so. How's that?
Speaker 4: How's that household? It must be an interesting place to be. No,
Speaker 4: it's good.
Speaker 6: It's it's a bit frantic at dinner time when everyone's
Speaker 6: cooking their separate meals in the kitchen, but it's good.
Speaker 6: It's good fun having people around, and obviously being my
Speaker 6: first time out of home, it's good to have people
Speaker 6: around and everything.
Speaker 4: With my missus and that living back in a show.
Speaker 6: Hopefully she'll join me over there soon. So no, it's
Speaker 6: good to have people around it. I've become quite close
Speaker 6: with those boys, So it's good.
Speaker 4: And just a couple more Sam's that's okay. What's the
Speaker 4: big on the team with so many so many other
Speaker 4: young guys or being in a general environment with so
Speaker 4: many young guys that are also ambitious and doing well.
Speaker 3: No, it's good.
Speaker 6: I think all the older boys and the coaching staff
Speaker 6: has sort of given us the confidence to that we
Speaker 6: can do a job and we can sort of thrive
Speaker 6: in this environment. And we've got a lot of good
Speaker 6: leaders like Fish and Capes and as guys have been there,
Speaker 6: done it and can sort of lead the way and
Speaker 6: say boys come with us.
Speaker 4: So no, it's good. It's good.
Speaker 6: And a lot of a lot of naturally talented.
Speaker 4: Kiwi boys over here.
Speaker 6: And I'd love to see where they're atting five to
Speaker 6: six years times, because where they're at at the moment
Speaker 6: and where they could be is just it's pretty insane.
Speaker 4: And what have you learned off Wade Egan from watching
Speaker 4: him at training? And I imagine you know, talking to
Speaker 4: him when you can about dummy half play, about being
Speaker 4: a number nine.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I spent a spent a fair bit of time
Speaker 6: with Waiter, even just listen to him in meetings and
Speaker 6: stuff like that, the way he thinks around the game,
Speaker 6: and just watching him at training and watching clips and everything,
Speaker 6: and just trying to pick up little things that he
Speaker 6: does and ask him questions here and there, and it's
Speaker 6: definitely definitely broke my game forward. I think if I like,
Speaker 6: if I look at myself twelve months ago to where
Speaker 6: I am now, I'm a completely different player. So and
Speaker 6: I definitely credit some of that to him in the
Speaker 6: way that he's sort of the influence he's had on me.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, this is the Big League Podcast. This is
Speaker 1: going Yeah, the Big League Podcast on the Warriors Bandwagons.
Speaker 1: It's day one.
Speaker 2: Fantastic to hear from Sam Healley for the first time
Speaker 2: on the Big League Podcast. Burge.
Speaker 3: It was cool hearing about his flatting situation as well.
Speaker 4: I love that you just the scenes of the four
Speaker 4: of them, four forty players in the kitchen are all
Speaker 4: pretty young, probably haven't had much time at a home,
Speaker 4: and you just imagine the big servings that have been
Speaker 4: put together and the fuel they need and the coordination
Speaker 4: around the kitchen. But it must be so cool as
Speaker 4: an athlete flating with other athletes because everyone gets it.
Speaker 4: Compared to imagine if he was with three other punters,
Speaker 4: you know, or three your because they're about that age,
Speaker 4: that'll be what's wrong with my mate? It'll be a
Speaker 4: friggin disaster. I don't know what you're trying to say,
Speaker 4: but I did. The other thing that that caught my
Speaker 4: attention to the interview was the way he said that
Speaker 4: you know, he jumped in a one way flight to
Speaker 4: come here, pretty apprehensive because and he walks into the
Speaker 4: sheds the first day and he's like, jeez, what this
Speaker 4: is so different to where I've been. I was so
Speaker 4: in my comfort zone. Good on him, he's just taking
Speaker 4: that big step. He looks like a really good player.
Speaker 4: I mean to do what he did in just his
Speaker 4: second game in the NRL. Come in for Egan only
Speaker 4: found out I matched their morning, comes in and plays
Speaker 4: like that against against his former club where his dad's
Speaker 4: a legend.
Speaker 2: It's just amazing, mate. You're right, it would be a
Speaker 2: disaster if they were was my mates. Let's go through
Speaker 2: this game in a little bit more detail. Firstly, our
Speaker 2: webster's detailed what he's most proud of.
Speaker 3: It won't surprise you.
Speaker 4: Definitely have a bench like even right to the end
Speaker 4: there when he knew and had a game where would
Speaker 4: just turn it up for each other. Fine in a way, scrambling.
Speaker 2: Let's go through another player who's performance I thought was
Speaker 2: just out of this world. Best of the season, Chanelle
Speaker 2: Harris Tavita was outstanding. We talk a lot about Luke Metcalf,
Speaker 2: but for me, Cht has flown under the radar.
Speaker 3: Two tries.
Speaker 2: I think he's kicking generally it's better than Metcals gets
Speaker 2: a lot higher on those bombs. His distribution and his
Speaker 2: ball running. He just picks his moments really really well.
Speaker 2: Not to mention those one off hats. He made twenty
Speaker 2: three tackles in that game. Booge great defender.
Speaker 4: I mean when you think of Chanell and you talk
Speaker 4: to people at the Warriors about him, the first thing
Speaker 4: they'll say is he's a competitor. He just competes on everything.
Speaker 4: He's the guy sliding on the loose ball. He's the
Speaker 4: guy making the big tackle or the tackle these he made.
Speaker 4: He's the guy competing for the bomb, getting the tap
Speaker 4: back they score, So he does the one percent. Doesn't
Speaker 4: always get noticed other for other things, which means, yeah,
Speaker 4: I guess he's got a there's mixed feelings about him
Speaker 4: sometimes among the fans, but he's doing a great job
Speaker 4: and people forget he came back after a year off
Speaker 4: and it was always going to be a struggle, and
Speaker 4: then he was in a struggling team. So very happy
Speaker 4: for him the way things are working out. I'm not
Speaker 4: sure if he's a better kick of the metcalf, but
Speaker 4: I take your point. He's becoming very good at just
Speaker 4: placing it in the corner with those little what would
Speaker 4: you call them, little sort of mini bombs, somewhere between
Speaker 4: a bomb and a chip, the mini bombs, Yeah, the
Speaker 4: many Nathan Limb kind of ones used to try and
Speaker 4: do it how at college. Absolutely not domitic Vai Manger,
Speaker 4: who we mentioned briefly at the start, But for me,
Speaker 4: that's easily his best performance of the season.
Speaker 3: Notice how I pronounce v Manger, not Vay Mayenger. I
Speaker 3: don't know how it's so different.
Speaker 2: Vi Manger, his defense, his ball running, his distribution, especially
Speaker 2: to James Brusher Harris, that tray he just went in
Speaker 2: untouched and it was sort of touched on the deception
Speaker 2: that he's brought as well.
Speaker 4: The reception was amazing and it was great to have
Speaker 4: the Australian commentators who you're right with his name, but
Speaker 4: it was it was fantastic the way they just were
Speaker 4: blown away by that pass because it was it was
Speaker 4: a magical pass. It was one of those passes where
Speaker 4: the cameramany was missed it. You know, how did that happen?
Speaker 4: But he was actually really good the week before too,
Speaker 4: if I remember, like he had two or three really
Speaker 4: critical offloads last week. And I think that's always a
Speaker 4: great sign for a young player to have the confidence
Speaker 4: to go for offloads, because you know what happens, mate,
Speaker 4: if he goes for an offload, someone drops it and
Speaker 4: they're forty minutes out, they give the ball up and
Speaker 4: da da da. Who's going to go and and go
Speaker 4: on about it? We are fans are he's made a mistake.
Speaker 4: What's he doing that? So he's confidence to have the offloads,
Speaker 4: he's so strong to do it. And yeah, I mean
Speaker 4: you'd say, like Hellia seem has probably got more of
Speaker 4: the attention so far, which is fair enough, but this guy,
Speaker 4: he's some player just all round, all round, plus seems
Speaker 4: like a real good hit on his shoulders.
Speaker 2: We talked about Charles Nickel Cook starting Roger to Varsi
Speaker 2: sheck last week in terms of their contributions, but I'm
Speaker 2: going to bring them up again because they deserve it.
Speaker 2: Chance with his try saving tackles but also topping the
Speaker 2: running meters again with two hundred and forty two from
Speaker 2: twenty one runs, sixty nine post contact meters, six tackle breaks.
Speaker 2: Roger to Varsask with two hundred meters from twenty two runs,
Speaker 2: eighty seven post contact meters, five tackle breaks. The amount
Speaker 2: of work that those two get through it helps them
Speaker 2: middle so much because they're taking on such a volume
Speaker 2: of the work they are.
Speaker 4: I mean that was the issue with the with the
Speaker 4: Raiders defeating against the Raiders in Auckland. Was the Raiders
Speaker 4: back five just dominated or outplayed the Warriors back five
Speaker 4: and it all sort of snowballs from there. Roger, I
Speaker 4: think we talked about this last week, Nath but he's
Speaker 4: found his place. Good decision by Webster. Webs Will probably
Speaker 4: mad he made a mistake last year having him center.
Speaker 4: He's found his place on the wing. The exciting thing
Speaker 4: is I think he's going to get better and better
Speaker 4: there because he's still getting used to be there. And
Speaker 4: Chance it just looks like he's got a spring in
Speaker 4: a step, bay like, he looks like he's moving a
Speaker 4: bit faster. He's got all this energy. I think he's
Speaker 4: in a really good place mentally. It must help when
Speaker 4: the team is going forward, obviously, but I think he
Speaker 4: might be coming into some of that form we saw
Speaker 4: in twenty three.
Speaker 2: Now, if we look at the game as a whole,
Speaker 2: you said, obviously, especially in the first half, you didn't
Speaker 2: think the Sharks were that poor in terms of the defense.
Speaker 2: I thought a couple of times Nicko Hines put in
Speaker 2: a couple of questionable cacks that just about went straight up.
Speaker 2: I thought their defense was a little bit lacking in
Speaker 2: the second half. The Warriors, though, in terms of the
Speaker 2: flow of their game, they're scoring first. For the seventh
Speaker 2: consecutive game, they've scored the first try, and the complaint,
Speaker 2: obviously in the last few weeks, has been they get
Speaker 2: to the second half, they're head by streets and they
Speaker 2: go to sleep and let the other side back into it.
Speaker 2: The most pleasing part of this performance was the fact
Speaker 2: that when they were up by streets in the second half,
Speaker 2: kept the foot on the throat of Cronella.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, you're anticipating in Krenella comeback. You know
Speaker 4: they're a good team. You thought there'd be a response.
Speaker 4: But the Warriors kept throwing punches, which, as you say,
Speaker 4: was very pleasing because you have seen sometimes in the
Speaker 4: past they'll get a lead and then they'll get a
Speaker 4: bit conservative kick to a corner, but just a safe carecule.
Speaker 4: They die with the ball fifteen meters out, fifth tackle,
Speaker 4: just for territory, whereas here they were going for it,
Speaker 4: which is how some of those tries come out. I
Speaker 4: mean that the Lecqua Halle seemed try for me was
Speaker 4: the one where just the way he stormed onto that
Speaker 4: bomb chip, it was probably a bit too far, but
Speaker 4: he makes it, bashes the defender of the way puts
Speaker 4: it down. That was a moment where you're like, Okay,
Speaker 4: this team has arrived. And the other thing I would
Speaker 4: say is the defense. Like that defense in the first half,
Speaker 4: there was a period with they head I think the
Speaker 4: Sharks had four consecutive sets around the goal line. The
Speaker 4: Warriors held them out. That sort of stuff really breaks
Speaker 4: the spirit, ay breaks the spur opposition team, so that's
Speaker 4: pretty critical.
Speaker 2: The Warriors had barely any tackles in the Sharks twenty,
Speaker 2: which is remarkable considering they scored twenty points. It was
Speaker 2: a stat that went up late in the game. Warriors
Speaker 2: had seven tackles in the Sharks twenty. The Sharks had
Speaker 2: twenty four in the Warriors twenty. Yeah, which reinforces the
Speaker 2: defense that they had to do. But also for a change,
Speaker 2: the Warriors were scoring a lot of medium to long
Speaker 2: range tries because they're making breaks around halfway and all
Speaker 2: that sort of thing, and that for me also shows
Speaker 2: just how clinical they were when they did have those opportunities.
Speaker 2: The only criticism that I could come up with from
Speaker 2: that game was that both the Sharks tries came down
Speaker 2: that left edge, which has been the vulnerable side that
Speaker 2: teams have looked to attack. This what Tennis Lesniak and
Speaker 2: Cape walls. But when I went back and looked at
Speaker 2: both tries, I really didn't think there was much else
Speaker 2: that what Tennis a lesnie act could do.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm sure the assistant coaches will still find something
Speaker 4: in the review. I mean, that right edge has been
Speaker 4: it's the edge that teams are targeting, and a lot
Speaker 4: of tries have been conceded down that edge, so they
Speaker 4: still need to fix it. But they did some good
Speaker 4: defense later on. I mean, I think the other thing
Speaker 4: we need to touch on is the big clash slash
Speaker 4: battle slash confrontation between Fisher Harris and Vanila Blake. You
Speaker 4: know it's Fisher Harris one now, isn't it. I Mean,
Speaker 4: there was so much talk about Vanua Blake coming into
Speaker 4: the game. I think he said a bit as well,
Speaker 4: I'll never forget what he did for the Warriors. He
Speaker 4: was great for the Warriors in twenty three. He was
Speaker 4: good seasons before that. It was okay last year. But
Speaker 4: there's no doubt in my mind that Fisher Harris is
Speaker 4: an upgrade in terms of your better fit. He just
Speaker 4: fits the club. He's inspiring the youngsters so much so
Speaker 4: because I think for new Blake and he ran for
Speaker 4: about one hundred and thirty hundred and forty meters, which
Speaker 4: is not a lot by his standards, and I think
Speaker 4: that shows the fact that Fisher Harris is keeping him quiet.
Speaker 4: That defense Big League.
Speaker 2: Podcast, Right, the Warriors have the bye this week, which
Speaker 2: means I guarantee two points I mentioned doing there in
Speaker 2: the podcast. They are joint with the Raiders and the
Speaker 2: Bulldogs at the top of the ladder. On twenty two points.
Speaker 2: Presuming the Bulldogs get the job done against the Eels tonight,
Speaker 2: they'll go top on twenty four. The Raiders also have
Speaker 2: the buy this week, so they'll get a guaranteed too
Speaker 2: as well. Now fourteen out of twenty seven rounds and
Speaker 2: seems an apt time to give the side a roughly
Speaker 2: mid season report card.
Speaker 4: Burge.
Speaker 2: Now, four rounds and I gave them a B plus. Obviously,
Speaker 2: we do our best to be balanced and critical because
Speaker 2: that is our job. But this season has been unprecedented,
Speaker 2: and you have to give credit, were credit as you.
Speaker 2: I'm upgrading the B plus to an A plus. Gee,
Speaker 2: I'd love to be in your class. Fire out not
Speaker 2: to deliver.
Speaker 4: Become a teacher, I don't, although you're quite a inspiring
Speaker 4: charismatic guy.
Speaker 2: But can I be a high school primary school teacher?
Speaker 2: What do you, Reckon might like to be a primary
Speaker 2: school teacher? You'd probably be good with primary school. I
Speaker 2: re can be good with the little ones.
Speaker 4: Little ones. I think the teenagers are pretty hard work
Speaker 4: these days, or more the teenager's parents are pretty how
Speaker 4: it works these days? Yeah, yeah, A plus. It's I
Speaker 4: think I gave them a B back after round four.
Speaker 4: That seems a long time ago. That was after the
Speaker 4: Tigers game, wasn't it. So this is the second bye.
Speaker 4: Great timing for the Buye by the way, I think
Speaker 4: they've had so many physical clashes, really good timing. It's
Speaker 4: probably a minus for me. Okay, there's still room for improvement.
Speaker 4: The attack, with the exception of a couple of recent games,
Speaker 4: hasn't always been what they need or what they want,
Speaker 4: So they'll be room for improvement, but far out to
Speaker 4: be ten to three at this point of the season.
Speaker 4: Like you're going through your analysis before about the table.
Speaker 4: So the top four, Bulldog's, Raiders, Warriors, Storm. Can we
Speaker 4: see anyone else? Without getting ahead of ourselves? Can we
Speaker 4: see anyone else coming into that top four? You know,
Speaker 4: That's what I was thinking about after this game. Can
Speaker 4: the Sharks leap up from where they are? Possibly? Cowboys,
Speaker 4: don't know if they're good enough. I feel like the
Speaker 4: only teams that could disrupt this top four are the
Speaker 4: Sharks and the Broncos if the Broncos get going. So
Speaker 4: it's pretty exciting to be sitting here where we were
Speaker 4: in early June to be saying that she was the
Speaker 4: Warriors are looking good, not just for the playoffs, mate,
Speaker 4: but they're looking good for the top four.
Speaker 2: Well, the thing is you said about who can break
Speaker 2: into that top four, because the GAP's opened up now
Speaker 2: there is a four point gap between the Sharks in
Speaker 2: fifth and Melbourne in fourth on twenty points, the Sharks
Speaker 2: on sixteen, the Warriors, Bullers and Raiders on twenty two.
Speaker 2: So you're right in terms of if the Broncos going
Speaker 2: to run. Obviously they had an incredible performance against the Titans,
Speaker 2: look like the All Blacks, played like the All Blacks.
Speaker 2: But then also you've got the Sharks who've had back
Speaker 2: to back forty point hidings basically, and then you've got
Speaker 2: the Cowboys on fifteen, the Dolphins on fourteen. You know,
Speaker 2: you're going all the way back to if you're talking
Speaker 2: about the Broncos one of the teams that could break
Speaker 2: in the eight points behind the Warriors.
Speaker 4: That's the thing. That's the thing. But they are a
Speaker 4: team that have the I think have the roster to
Speaker 4: do it. I don't know if any of these other
Speaker 4: teams that we're looking at, Cowboys, Dolphins, Seagulls, Roosters all
Speaker 4: on fourteen, Dragons on fourteen, and the Rabbit Rabbito's definitely not.
Speaker 4: They've had so many injuries. I don't think those other
Speaker 4: teams have the roster to do something crazy like a
Speaker 4: what have we got eleven twelve games left to win
Speaker 4: eight or nine out of eleven. So the Warriors are
Speaker 4: in a fantastic position.
Speaker 2: I suppose in regards to my A plus, another justification
Speaker 2: you said, obviously there have been problems. We talked about
Speaker 2: the first tackle players, that sort of thing of a
Speaker 2: few issues they still need to solve, and that's true.
Speaker 3: Every team is going to have that.
Speaker 2: But I suppose the reason behind giving you an A
Speaker 2: plus is I feel like those things are things we've
Speaker 2: talked about through this early part of the season, and
Speaker 2: they've actually they've really improved. If you think about in
Speaker 2: comparison to five or six weeks ago we were talking
Speaker 2: about in terms of the Warriors attack, they put on
Speaker 2: forty points and the place that they're in right now,
Speaker 2: top of the table, the attacks firing, the defense looked really,
Speaker 2: really good, and it's the standout bar maybe a couple
Speaker 2: of issues on that right edge.
Speaker 4: A plus for me, defense is amazing. Yeah, I think
Speaker 4: they've they've got the best completions in the NRL. They're
Speaker 4: topping a whole lot of other stats. The aplus will
Speaker 4: come though for me, when we see what they can
Speaker 4: do against Bulldogs that's coming not too far away, what
Speaker 4: they can do against the Raiders and the Storm. They've
Speaker 4: now become the benchmark. Kevin. They that the expectation for
Speaker 4: this team has grown, so we know they can deal
Speaker 4: with teams outside the top four and the Crenal are
Speaker 4: a top four team as well. Really, now, what do
Speaker 4: they do against the big guns? Because they're seen as
Speaker 4: a big gun and.
Speaker 2: The Warriors are up against the Panthers after the buy
Speaker 2: so in a couple of weeks. Whereas captain James Qpecshi
Speaker 2: Harris obviously four time premiership when it with the Panthers,
Speaker 2: he was asked about the comparisons between the Warriors and
Speaker 2: his Penrith Panthers side, but he's refused to be drawn
Speaker 2: on it.
Speaker 4: It's hard to say like I'm not comparing or anything
Speaker 4: like that. We just do our own thing and like
Speaker 4: week's a week, what's done, has done it? Just focus
Speaker 4: on the scroup. Howkin about this year? How many times
Speaker 4: do you think James is going to be asked those
Speaker 4: kind of questions over the next eleven rounds.
Speaker 3: Should we make it a vision to just ask him
Speaker 3: that every time?
Speaker 4: Because seriously, like whenever they play in Australia, there's some
Speaker 4: kind of question around that. And obviously the questions back
Speaker 4: here because there's a fascination for premiership wins, five Grand finals.
Speaker 4: Who was at that club for a long time? Everyone
Speaker 4: wants to know. But James, what do you think of
Speaker 4: this place compared to Panthers? But he's very careful, he's
Speaker 4: pretty smart, you know. He doesn't want to make headlines
Speaker 4: about oh for sheer Harris believes that the Warriors were
Speaker 4: on track to become the new Panthers. It's the last
Speaker 4: thing he wants. He's not that kind of guy. So
Speaker 4: he's just going to keep Come on, James, just saying
Speaker 4: he's to keep flat batting in a way headlines and
Speaker 4: just wait for the exclusive off season chat with Michael Burgers.
Speaker 4: I reckon, that's that's what you want.
Speaker 3: Oh yes, On the Big League Podcast, it's coming, The Big.
Speaker 1: League Podcast on the Warriors Bad Wagons since day one,
Speaker 1: The Big League Podcast for the biggest league fans.
Speaker 3: Birch quick fire predictions for a short round.
Speaker 4: What is this?
Speaker 2: Fifteen both six out of eight last week? Who did
Speaker 2: you pick in the Sharks Warriors game? Ummm, you picked
Speaker 2: the the home side. I think you didn't pick the Warriors.
Speaker 4: I think it was I think it was technically a
Speaker 4: Warrior's home game, So I think I did pick.
Speaker 2: The shocking shocking to picking the Sharks last week, boos,
Speaker 2: they got flogged. Having said that, I picked the Dragons
Speaker 2: and was by fifty. So here we go Sharks versus
Speaker 2: the Dragons to start off with.
Speaker 4: Yeah, where do we go here? I mean, I don't
Speaker 4: know that these two teams, these are the local rivals
Speaker 4: in the shire in southern Sydney. They're both really really
Speaker 4: dislike each other. You'd think the Sharks would bounce back surely,
Speaker 4: and you'd think that the Dragons have got some issues
Speaker 4: after that threshing. So I will go with the Sharks.
Speaker 4: But it's a short turnaround. I think this is a
Speaker 4: Thursday night game, so far out it's not good for
Speaker 4: the team. But I'll go to Canella. I'll agree with you.
Speaker 2: Both teams got flogged, but surely the Sharks pack a
Speaker 2: backup Titans who got flogged by the Broncos and the.
Speaker 3: Seagulls who got upset by the Knights.
Speaker 4: Yeah, another one that we didn't see coming. I guess
Speaker 4: that's the magic of the n RL. Mainly for me here,
Speaker 4: I just don't know where the Titans. How the Titans
Speaker 4: are going to come back this season. I think they're
Speaker 4: already destined for a pretty miserable second half.
Speaker 3: Are they're rubbish?
Speaker 4: Seagulls and Knights Roosters? Do the Knights go back to back?
Speaker 4: Do they go back to back? I mean they must
Speaker 4: be feeling good about themselves. They're at home. The Roosters
Speaker 4: will be missing a couple of players.
Speaker 2: And they had the buy so they're coming off the
Speaker 2: by and before that the two point loss of the Raiders.
Speaker 2: I'll go the versas in that case, we'll agree with
Speaker 2: you there. Cowboys versus the Dolphins. This is the best
Speaker 2: match of the round.
Speaker 4: Both teams, as we talked about before that, that are
Speaker 4: in the top eight or well yeah, in the top
Speaker 4: eight eventually, and both playing really well. I love what
Speaker 4: Christian Wolf was doing at the Dolphins. Cowboys, great attacking team.
Speaker 4: Toss the coin Queensland Derby. I'll go with the I'll
Speaker 4: go to the home team, Cowboys.
Speaker 2: So the Cowboys coming off a thirty eight fourteen loss
Speaker 2: to the Storm in Melbourne. The Dolphins flogging the Dragons
Speaker 2: fifty six six, and I'm going to disagree with you. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm going to back the Dolphins to beat North Queensland
Speaker 2: Rabbit versus the Bulldogs to finish. Bulldogs obviously get to
Speaker 2: play their around. Because we're recording this on a Monday
Speaker 2: eels tonight. We've both picked them last week.
Speaker 4: I really feel for the Rabbit as they Cody Walker
Speaker 4: has been out for six or seven games, comes back
Speaker 4: and he's out again with it looks like a groin
Speaker 4: strain for I don't know a couple of weeks, so
Speaker 4: they had a massive injury toll. I'd love it if
Speaker 4: they can beat the Bulldogs, it'd be great, but I
Speaker 4: can't see it. I will agree with you, neither Bulldogs
Speaker 4: to win that round. Enjoy by around people. Thank you
Speaker 4: for making us a part of your week. Michael Purgas,
Speaker 4: Thank you for your time, your wisdom, your insight. Seventy
Speaker 4: five episodes, shake my hand, good man.
Speaker 3: Well we definitely each other her up. That's well done,
Speaker 3: well done. Please follow and rate the podcast. My name
Speaker 3: is Nathan lem We will be back next week. Have
Speaker 3: a fantastic week.
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