Rugby league: Why Nathan Brown believes the Warriors are different in 2022

The Warriors have a 3-3 record after the opening six rounds of the 2022 NRL competition. Photo / Photosport

While the Warriors came up short against the Sydney Roosters at the weekend, there was a clear silver lining for coach Nathan Brown to take from the match: the Warriors are up for the challenge.

The club fell to a 22-14 loss to the perennial contenders at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, opening the scoring but being outplayed in the second half. However, it was a performance with plenty of promise, and one that Brown wasn't so sure he would have gotten from the side a year ago.

We played a strong Roosters side at the weekend and, apart from one game last year when we played Penrith, I don't think we really made any of the opposition in the top four or five sides earn their money. We certainly made the Roosters earn their money," Brown told Newstalk ZB's D'Arcy Waldegrave.

"I didn't think we played great in the second half, but we certainly made the Roosters earn their victory, where last year I'm not so sure we did that with any of the top four or five teams. It's certainly a step in the right direction and we should have left that game the other day feeling we put our best foot forward and that we can really challenge people."

In 2021, the Warriors struggled to front against the competition's top teams. In seven games against teams who ended the season fifth on the ladder or above, the Warriors were outscored 257-130 – an average of about 18 points per game.

While their match against the Roosters at the weekend was their first against one of those five teams for 2022, Brown said it was pleasing to see how the side showed up.

"You don't want to be defeated before you start, and that was the pleasing thing against the Roosters," he explained.

"You've certainly got to run out there feeling you can do well. That's a start. You have to go out there and take the game to them, play some footy and feel confident that you're going there for the right reason."

Things don't get any easier for the Warriors in the week ahead, as they travel to Melbourne to meet the Storm on Monday night.

Melbourne put 42 points on the Warriors both times the two teams met in 2021 as the Warriors went on to end the season as the fifth-worst defensive team in the competition, conceding 624 points at 25 points per game. Now, after six rounds of the 2022 campaign, the club hold the eighth best defensive record, having conceded 112 points (18 per game).

Against the Roosters, the Warriors seemed to be hard done by with several questionable calls going against them. NRL head of football Graham Annesley said in his weekly media briefing there had been inconsistencies between decisions made by the Bunker in the match, both of which favoured the Roosters.

However, Brown hasn't been critical of the referees in the aftermath of the match and looking ahead to this weekend's clash with Melbourne, and rather implored his side to lift in the areas they had control over.

"The big thing for us, in the last 11 years the club has played one finals game. For us to become the best club we can become we have to look at what we can control," Brown said.

"From the coach's point of view, it's about what things can I put in place so that we can improve; from the players' point of view, it's what are some of the things they can do better in the game to help control the result. It's never going to be perfect; refereeing is a tough gig. You never see people say 'we got four or five lucky calls' it always seems to be when it doesn't go your way that people want to talk about it.

"We're best off focusing on what we can control and how we can get better as a coaching staff and as a playing group, and if we can do that and keep putting ourselves in these situations, we should be able to finish on the other side of the ledger a few more times."

Warriors v Melbourne Storm
Melbourne, Monday 9pm.

Warriors: Reece Walsh, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Jesse Arthars, Adam Pompey, Edward Kosi, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Shaun Johnson, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Matt Lodge, Euan Aitken, Bayley Sironen, Josh Curran.

Interchange (from): Kodi Nikorima, Bunty Afoa, Aaron Pene, Eliesa Katoa, Taniela Otukolo, Jazz Tevaga, Viliami Vailea, Rocco Berry, Valingi Kepu, Junior Ratuva, Garrett Smith.