Gutted

Well this post is mainly just a placeholder to mark the fact that I am aware of the Warriors spiralling fortunes and that although I am upset about it I can bear to talk about it.

A ray of hope with the signing of Tate from Brisbane - if it works out he could be a really big contributer. On the other hand at 25 he has already had a serious back injury and thats a big problem for an NRL player going forward, the real reason he is coming to the Warriors may not be the "lifestyle" but may in fact be that the Warriors are most willing to pay up big and suck up the risk of his back limiting his playing time.

Vatuvei is in the dog house this week and fair enough.

On a lighter note I went to Lagos, Nigeria last week. Was a real eye opener. Got back on Friday morning and after another day at the office went to Oslo, Norway for the long bank holiday weekend. The two places could not be further apart - although they both have massive oil wealth.

Anyway the doomsday countdown suggests the Warriors season is over, I hope this is not the case - although I am thinking they need 10 wins to make it into eighth, 9 wins may be enough, but even then they need to win 9 of 14 remaining games - thats a 64% win ratio. Those of you who have followed the Warriors for a while no this team has only won more than 50% of its games in three seasons in their previous 12 year history (1995, 2002 and 2003). So I'm not holding my breath.

Bitches

Well if the warriors manage to win this fu$k$en game then I will be majorly suprised.

I am due to travel to Nigeria AND I DON'T LIKE it. so that is that. The Warriors are a disafu$k$npointment to me. Save me please.

mediocrity

Lame lame lame - stunning collapse against the Knights and another loss -Cleary Year II now slips into the void with which we are far too familiar of desperately trying just to make the top eight. Top eight is of course still a possibility, but you need to be in the top four to be a real competitor in the playoffs.

For now though top eight is the dream and I have updated the doomsday countdown accordingly. Ten wins from sixteen remaining games is what is required. At the current win rate of 50% the Warriors will win only eight of those remaining games and will not make the playoffs again. So pick it up now guys or wait out yet another season in the wilderness.

Sixth in the table is not a fair indication of where this season is at.

With all that said - this was a round of upsets - tipping this competition is hard when its so even. Only one more week till Origin so the Warriors need to make the most of any advantage they can take from this and get some wins. Next two games Tigers and Eels are both winnable games - however both of the last two games were winnable as well.

Muppets

Warriors face the Knights tomorrow at a presumably antagonistic Energy Australia Stadium in Newcastle. Cleary is frankly lucky that he has held onto his table position - which due to the bye is making this season look better than it really is - had things been different the Warriors could have spent this week in 10th. Cleary has this team on the cusp of either bottom top eight worthieness or another wasted season. And frankly I don't blame Cleary - I think he is clever and able - but its a pyschological battlefield out there at Warriors training and in particular in the changing sheds before they run out on the field. God knows how to coach this club to get the best out of them.


By the way I note Lowe's columns have resumed in the Herald, and they continue to haunt me. I originally passed on the opportunity mock Lowe's analogy between rugby league and.....the first Gulf War - however now I can't help it anymore - do you read the f$$cking paper Graham or watch TV for that matter- is this analogy good taste - is Stormin Normin Swartzkopf still a hero to you in hindsight - what happened to your brain while you were on that surgery table......and on and on.

Enjoy the weekend of games, I see as of Friday nights games the Sharks have beaten the Broncoes and Manly continue their very successful season (Minor Prems in waiting?) with a further win over the Eels. Warriors need a win to stay with the top 8 - go out and get it.

Woeful performance

Well a total disaster against the Sharkies culminating in the loss of the type of game which should be a given win. Typical Warriors. Five players on report and two players suspended for a game.

What a bath.

Anyway I guess we can start thinking about next week - Cleary has been forced to make changes and Hiho returns from injury - at least he has sufficient depth in the squad to cover for the suspended absentees.

Milan was great by the way and Man U have won the premiership so that is some consolation for a dismal Warriors performance.

hammering

A good opportunity for a further home win this week for the Warriors v Sharks on Saturday, the Warriors are unbeaten at home so far this year and some of the Sharkies are surely going to be tired after playing Monday and then five players backing up from City v Country mid-week. McKinnon's out which is a point for concern but lets hope for a thrashing. Sharks are sitting eighth in the table with three wins - having beaten only the Raiders, Dragons and Penrith. These are junk wins so it will be interesting to see how Ricky Stuart's tired Sharks side deal with a real opponent and in particular the Warriors pack.

Its a Saturday night game (kickoff 7.30pm) so those of you in Auckland - don't stay home and watch the game on Sky1- get on down to Mt Smart and drink a warm over-priced beer out of a plastic cup and cheer the boys on in person.

And yes I did watch Man U get crushed by AC Milan in the Champions League second leg semi-final last night so the treble dream is over. As long as Chelsea don't win the premiership I think I will be able to cope. And I am due to travel to Milan this bank holiday weekend so its all ok.

Triumph over Souths - Sharks this week

Great win for the boys over Souths last weekend - sorry I have been a bit slack in updating the blog - spent Sunday down in Brighton by the sea side enjoying the remarkably early summer weather here in the UK.

I really liked the Watson v Crowe angle on the whole Souths matchup and hopefully with the big Kiwi contingent this can grow into a real heated rivalry between the two clubs and owners.

Was disturbed to hear that fullback McKinnon has been suspended for two weeks - it is these kind of dumb suspensions that have killed the Warriors in years gone by (read Ridge) - anyway Patrick Ah Van is to deputise at fullback in his first NRL hit out of the year vs Cronulla this week which should be interesting.

I have also updated the warriors doomsday countdown in the status report in the corner of the blog - Warriors now need 10 wins from 18 games in order to get the magic 30 point mark which should guarantee beyond any doubt that they will make the playoffs.