Warriors winning run continues

What is it with the Warriors and late season runs of form the last few years? Anyway after a fine 18-4 win at home over the Sharks the Warriors are in the top eight with 26 comp points for what seems the first time this season and are starting to look plausible to actually finish in the top eight as well.

A dyabolically bad points difference (-81) means it may be harder this year than in previous years to hold that spot - i.e. 30 points may be required rather than 28. If thats the case my thinking is that two wins from the remaining three will do it. I have adjusted the countdown to oblivion accordingly.

Overall a great sporting weekend for NZ with a good ABs performance in SA, Olympic golds and the Warriors win.

Final three games are
Round 24, Sun, Aug 24 (3.00pm), DRAGONS at WIN Stadium, Wollongong (7th - 26 points)
Round 25, Sun, Aug 31 (4.00pm), PANTHERS at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (9th - 25 points)
Round 26, Sep 5-8 EELS at Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta (13th - 22 points)

So of these three games the next two obviously take on additional importance as they likely represent chances for a 4 point swing against other top eight contenders.

WadeMac returns and Warriors scrape past Broncoes

This could be a last game of the season squeeker at this rate.

Warriors lost away to Rabs last week (appauling) yet managed to beat the Broncoes at home thsi week benefiting from the contribution of WadeMac in his first game of the season after knee surgery has kept him out.

So in fact the Warriors retain the very real possibility of making the top eight, needing two wins from four games Sharks (h), Dragons (a), Panthers (h) and Eels (a). With Wade Mac back this looks plausible although eighth spot is of course a direct route to playing the number 1 side.

Warriors turn around

Yes I have been slack on keeping the Warriors updated but if they are going to string together wins like this you can't complain too much. Big win over the Storm at Mt Smart. I actually tried to bet on the Warriors mid week to win twelve and under but the TAB won't take bets during the NZ night, so due to the time difference the bet was rejected, as risk manager closed. I forgot to go back and put it on so anyway the Warriors did win against heavy odds and that is great.



By my calculations Warriors have now won four straight games and with 22 points need at least a further six competition points to make the top eight. So thats three wins from six remaining games. Those games are Rabbitohs(a - 14th), Broncoes (h - 5th), Sharks (h - 4th), Dragons (a - 7th), Panthers (h - 6th), Eeels (a - 13th). So presuming the boys can beat the Rabs then two further wins will be needed, no real easy games and the games vs the Drags and the Panthers are crucial as those teams will be competing for the bottem end finals spots just like the Warriors.

Once again Cleary is on the verge of pulling the rabbit from the hat but I am still left wondering why this club can't perform with this kind of consistency from day 1 instead of leaving it so late.

In other team news I not Eric Watson is on the rack at the moment with the fall of Hanover. Lets hope the Warriors don't suffer any financial consequences.

Dire

Well through the freakish pervisity of freeview Setanta coverage since their live transmission of the Warriors match today vs the Sharks carried on past midday UK time I was able to watch the final 17 minutes or so of the game live at home on my couch in my London flat. Who would have thought such an occurrence would seem remarkable?

Anyway what a 17 minutes it was - it makes me realise just what I haven't been missing. This was truly poor. Warriors going into the second half with a narrow lead 8-6 and then failing to score a point in 40 minutes and giving up what appeared to me to be three carbon copies of the same try - by way of bomb to the right wing corner. In a game this tight this was unforgivable - as was the constant turnovers and lack of cohesion or line breaks from the Warriors whilst they were in possession of the football and still in with a chance. What a pitiful mess this team is right now.

The Australian commentators seemed to delight in pointing out that the Warriors failure to pick up any points in this game likely eliminated them from playoff contention and I have a hard time arguing with that. Its now seven wins needed from eleven games to have a chance at eighth spot. Unlikely I fear.

rise the phoenix from the ashes

First up I have to admit this blog has been sliding in terms of keeping up to date. The fact is I find it hard to maintain my enthusiasm for discussing the Warriors when they are doing things like dropping points to the Rabs at home. Most recently my sporting attentions have been focussed on Euro 2008 which in the absence of England is really an exercise in enjoying football purely for the sake of the quality of the participating teams. Portugal look the real deal and the Croatia v Germany game was a fascinating contest. I have been assisted by the fact that I am off work at the moment and kick off times of 5pm and 7.45pm have made for some convenient viewing.

Getting back to the Worriers at hand, facing up to the Sharks at Toyota Park this week it seems Clearly is desperate to get this team back on track - but if he in fact knew how to do that the team would not find themselves in as dire a situation as they have now got to. Injuries haven't helped but you cannot play this competition and hope to compete at a high level by hoping for a miracle seven or eight game win streak late in the season to get you into the upper top eight. This club has got to find consistency - but in saying that this has proved elusive for thirteen years and I don't expect it to suddenly emerge now. Cleary may not in fact be the man for the job - Daniel Anderson has said he shall quit SuperLeague coaching soon and a part of me can't resist wondering whether it would be worth giving him a 2 year contract to try and rebuild this team.

Some of the quotes re Cleary's predicament in the Herald are pretty awesome - i.e. "For a coach who doesn't panic and certainly doesn't do scary, Ivan Cleary was in an ominous mood on Friday night after his side threw away a golden chance to claim consecutive wins for the first time this season". Hugh McGahan has asked in the Herald if it is time to "push the panic button" - and frankly I would say yes - push it repeatedly as fast and as many times as you can as if it is small punch and you are trying to beat Blanka with Guile with cheap tricks on street fighter II.

So Cleary has threatened major changes if things don't improve - but what changes could really be made to make a positive change? The return of Price and Tate can't hurt - but wholesale benchings on grounds of poor defense doesn't seem like it is really going to happen. Luaki seems to have been the scapegoat and has been dumped for the Sharks match this week.

Looking at the Sharkies they have managed to produce consistent results with a team that does not look stunning on paper. "Their defensive record is good, 160 points better than the Warriors who are letting in an average 30 a game while the Sharks concede around 16."

I will this week be reinstating the countdown to oblivion in the status window to the right. This is based on the assumption that to make the top eight you need a certain number of points. In recent seasons this magic number has been 28 points. The Warriors currently have 12 points so need an additional 16 points to reach the magic threshold. They have a bye in hand which is good for 2 free points so they will need 7 wins from 12 remaining games to make the top eight cut-off. We have seen this team pull a rabbit out a hat before so the time is now for them to do it again - but lets face it - this is not the way to win titles and this club again needs to go back to the drawing board for a fundamental rethink.

First away win of the season

Finally the Warriors squeeze out a win away, scraping home against the Knights.

crowd goes wild

Just a quick note this week as have been busy elsewhere - Penrith result is sickening. As noted in previous posts I don't mind losses but hate utter capitulation. This season is a right off unless Warriors win the next five straight games or something similar. Bring the young up and coming players in en masse now.

Anyway I am hung over to death after watching Man U squeek past Chelsea in Moscow. What an advertisement for the sport - a real thriller. State of Origin - for some reason I like Queensland - I guess it goes back to the Wally Lewis/Graham Lowe days and the 91 series (best ever) - if you are ever bored or waiting for a bus or flight try to name as many players as you can who took part in that series. Anyway NSW win game 1 and that is lame. But hey I could not give a toss at this moment Man U have gone and won the double.