Monday, July 30, 2007

Warriors frenzy


Well the media is going wild - NZ herald asserting that Warriors can make the playoffs with only two more wins and three wins a high likelihood of a home semi-final!.

The Warriors have only had a home semi once in their history vs Canberra in 2002. Whilst this brings back warm memories of my attendance at the game and chants of "Ali Ali Ali" after Ali scored a try on his first touch of the ball, please lets not get ahead ourselves here. That 2002 team was the greatest Warriors team ever - this team have not yet done enough for us to consider themselves up there with that 2002 team . I would be delighted for them to prove otherwise but the way things stack up now even the playoffs are not yet certain. In a couple of weeks I will be gushing too when the boys make the playoffs but I am keeping a lid on it for now.

Cleary has set a very measured tone which I think is the right attitude to adopt - its not that long since this team lost six in a row after all. Check out the post match press conference for some awkward silences and blank stares from Cleary and Price. These guys are not getting swept up in the hype. (cheers to Paul from TV3 for hooking me up with the link ).

Tigers crushed the Cowboys on Monday night so the Warriors are safe in fourth for now.

By the way I am aware that some of you attended the nine try romp over the Knights at Mt Smart during the weekend - so please don't be shy - lets hear your thoughts on the game.

Big ups to Stacey Jones performance over the weekend as well - who after a couple of un-inspiring years in the UK Super league has finally taken the Catalan Dragons to a major cup final. Nice one.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

well in my opinion, all this keeping a lid on things is just bullshit. if you cant get excited when the warriors completely dominate the opposition at this late stage in the season and with them sitting in fourth, when can you get excited?

I have been excited about this warriors side since the beginning of the season however they went through a strange period where they lacked any imagination on attack at all. The side they have on the paddock at the moment is awesome, the bench in particular is brilliant, every man coming off it is doing a fantastic job. Even my nemisis Logan Swann has wised up a little.

I'm praying there are no injuries as the balance of this side at the moment is near perfect and if they have to slot hohaia in at centre or some other stupid selection out of necessity it could ground this machine to a halt.

Have no doubt about it, the halves pairing is the best the warriors have ever had (debateable but I have been impressed). The forward pack is looking more robust than it has for some time, thank god wiki is over his injury and doesnt take 10 seconds to play the ball after being tackled (why would they have played him when he was that fucked up, I'll never know)

In summary, get excited, the warriors are going to the grand final this year, meeting the storm.

wellingtonwarrior said...

I'm breaking my long bout of silence on this blog as I have just been inspired to comment on one of the greatest games of league of all time.
If you missed the game and have a spare 90mins, dont waste it on such trivial things as eating or sleeping, get onto nrl.com and watch a full replay online.
I agree with the hoff- I haven't been this excited about a warriors side since their grand final year, and I certainly have never seen one with this much intestinal fortitude. Even the great warriors of old would have folded as soon as they saw Braith Anasta's 46m drop goal sail between the posts 3mins from time.
Despite the puzzling refereeing, often at crucial stages against the warriors, I was among the majority (probably the minority of readers of this blog!) who felt that it would be unfair for either team to leave the Sydney Football Stadium with no points.
What a scorcher! I want a rematch!
And go the rest of the season-I got my tickets and flights booked for the sea eagles on the 26th!!!
P.S Simon Mannering is poised to take some poor outside backs apart!

Anonymous said...

We were robbed on the Roosters game.

I have no problem with the Mannering send-off, it WAS a professional foul, the rooster player was tackled and then stripped of the ball in a delaying tactic.

I have great problems with not being awarded a penalty when Steve Price 'lost' the ball. AS soon as the incident occurred, I didn't need to wait for a replay to know it had been punched out. Steve Price does - not - drop - the - ball, not now, not ever. How those touch judges and referee could play with blindfolds on in extra time infuriates me. Towards the very end, the roosters were a MILE offside, the commentary team was screaming it to the fans at home and it ruined any chance we had of scoring a field goal, Witt was virtually monstered before he got the ball, 10m behind the play the ball. Shane Hayne and his troops should hang their heads in shame that they denied an outstanding Warriors team a well deserved victory.

Kudos to the roosters for having fittler as their coach, that name obviously carries a lot of weight even though hes no longer on the paddock.

Matt said...

no longer on the paddock! I like that sort of salt of the earth commentary. Fittler definitely has a lot of shall we say mana in the NRL - I would have thought he is a real contender for "immortal" status - he is a winner.