The blues become Super Rugby champions, the Warriors take a dive and the Northern stars stay on top, plus more. Video / NZ Herald
The Warriors are at the crossroads – and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck seems close to the end of his tether.
He has faced several difficult periods at the club, including the losing runs to end the 2017 and 2019 campaigns, and all the Covid-19 inspired upheavals of last season, when he wastrying to lead the club while isolated from his family.
But how much more can he give?
The captain cut a dejected figure after Saturday's 10-6 defeat to Newcastle, their fifth loss in six games.
After a promising start to the season, with two victories in the first three rounds, the Warriors are starting to fade.
The NRL is a competition built on fine margins, but the Warriors have been on the wrong end of too many close games. There was no lack of effort on Saturday – in a game there for the taking – but the individual and collective execution wasn't good enough.
Tuivasa-Sheck desperately wants to finish his Warriors career on a high, with a charge for the finals, but realises they are nearing the point of no return.
They'll have to win six or seven of their last 10 games, and still have to face the Panthers, Rabbitohs and the improving Sharks (twice).
Tuivasa-Sheck admits there will need to be some soul searching around Warriors HQ, as they try to turn the season around.
He suggested they might take inspiration from the 2008 team, who won eight of their final 10 matches, before the famous win over the Storm in the first week of the playoffs.
"[We'll need] lots of honest individual chats with ourselves and our team," said Tuivasa-Sheck. "We were lucky, we had one of our old boys [Ian] Henderson come back and he spoke to us about [how] they were in this same situation in 2008."
"He said they all looked at each other individually and said 'what do we actually want from this year, what do we want to do?'. Those are the questions that need to be asked, because we can either just sit back and let this season go by or take control of it by individually being honest with each other."
The raw talent of Reece Walsh could provide some attacking spark in the Warriors quest for a finals berth. Photo / Photosport
After being outplayed in the first half on Saturday, the Warriors dominated possession and territory after the break but couldn't make it count.
"I don't think the decisions we were making in attack were the right ones," said Tuivasa-Sheck. "I don't think we were doing enough to get the momentum back. We fought really well, [with] the wind against us in the second half, to get ourselves back into the right position."
"We just weren't taking our opportunities, weren't putting on the right plays, those are the minor things that have been hurting us each week."
Tuivasa-Sheck wondered why a team with such promise – and arguably a finals quality roster – find themselves on the brink.
"I'm gutted because that is us," lamented the 27-year-old. "We can fight our way back, [we are a] team that has a lot of fight, [we have] a good pack to work off.
"It's just the finishing touches from our halves, our edges being in positions to score tries. That's the frustrating part; we need to put all those parts together."
The manner of the Saturday's defeat was particularly tough. With five minutes to play, Tuivasa-Sheck produced a magnificent try saving tackle on Connor Watson – after Enari Tuala had found his way through ponderous defence in the middle of the ruck, but the Knights crossed out wide on the next play.
"[There was] not enough scramble on the right edge, especially when they had to go right through our middle," said Tuivasa-Sheck. "It was a simple drop play and our middle just clocked off."
