All the coach, player, fan and media reaction to the Warriors’ 20-4 win over Newcastle on Friday night.
What the Warriors said
Stephen Kearney was more than satisfied with the Warriors’ shutout of the Knights, despite the lack of attacking polish.
“I thought it was a real tough, gritty performance, based on our defence,” Kearney said post-match.
“The guys did a really good job at shutting down opportunities from the Knights and they did that through a real persistence in what we call the detail in our defence.
“They were pretty relentless with it and for me, a good example of it was at the back end when we decided to take the penalty, but the Knights at that stage looked down on their feet.
“The guys had earned that through the defensive work they did.”
“Everyone’s hungry for it, everyone’s getting involved." – RTS
👥 https://t.co/onjgoQAdu4 pic.twitter.com/CDB5nsWYwn
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) August 10, 2018
"Those are memories I'll hold on to." – Bully
🗣 https://t.co/XCbqJwl6lL#Bully250 #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/tJL6PaJuJy
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) August 11, 2018
"Beast! The big marn!… reminded me of Manu." – Ken Maumalo's assessment of David Fusitu'a's try.
🗣🗣 https://t.co/lqRe5T9uuQ pic.twitter.com/NhoKhu6xON
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) August 11, 2018
What the Knights said
Nathan Brown was lavish in his praise of the Warriors, declaring them a big grand final chance and calling their back-three the equal of any in the NRL.
Knights coach Nathan Brown backs Warriors for grand final push https://t.co/oxZDC9lOUL #NRLWarriorsKnights pic.twitter.com/9kkxfwafjF
— Newshub Sport (@NewshubSport) August 10, 2018
Mitchell Pearce paid tribute to fellow 250-gamer Issac Luke.
Pearce shows respect for fellow milestone man
More here: https://t.co/wYNq8ekD47#OurTownOurTeam pic.twitter.com/CNSipGjD64
— Newcastle Knights (@NRLKnights) August 12, 2018
What the fans said
Solid. Tough. A win’s a win. No one was getting too carried away.
Pretty happy to break the mini-homeground-hoodoo we’ve had going on! #nrlwarriorsknights #LetsGoneWarriors
— Suz Burgess (@suzikyla23) August 10, 2018
RTS>PONGA!!!! all day #NRLWarriorsKnights #warriornation
— Marlen Ronaldo Farac (@TheCroatianBaby) August 10, 2018
Stress free Warriors win lol Feels good #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Bodied Em (@mexxproductions) August 10, 2018
Fans were bursting with pride over the post-match tribute to retiring ref Matt Cecchin:
Support for the Women In League Round colour explosion was less than unanimous, though:
This game looks like it’s sponsored by Hubba Bubba 🤤 #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Lauren (@laurenN_01) August 10, 2018
What the Kiwi media said
‘The finals charge is on’ – NZ Herald’s Michael Burgess.
On the whistle report on @NZWarriors https://t.co/hwddkn1RAx @nzheraldsport
— Michael Burgess (@mikeburgess99) August 10, 2018
Solid effort from @NZWarriors. Job done & another vital win. RTS immense again, part of impressive back three. Pack hunted together, halves solid but team lacked polish. Room for improvement, but good place to be. @nzheraldsport
— Michael Burgess (@mikeburgess99) August 10, 2018
Dale Budge declared the Warriors finals certainties, Roger a Dally M front-runner and Jazz an old-school marvel in his ‘What we learned’ piece.
David Long was back in the Mount Smart saddle for Stuff, while Jackson Thomas had a good yarn with Blake Green for the same outlet.
That was a good one. Like a complicated bit of embroidery #nrlwarriorsknights
— Ali Ikram (@AliIkram) August 10, 2018
That win all but secures a spot in the NRL playoffs for the Warriors!! 😍😍 #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Ben Francis (@BenFrancis136) August 10, 2018
What the Aussie media said
The RTS Dally M bandwagon picked up a high-profile passenger!
VOSSY'S VERDICT
The bolter to take out 2018 Dally M Medal – https://t.co/xMC5Rlu7LC via @AndrewVossy #NRL pic.twitter.com/EyoTKJRKuY
— FOX LEAGUE (@FOXNRL) August 12, 2018
NRL.com veteran/fashionista Chris Kennedy gave the Warriors’ polarising WIL strip the thumbs up.
Geez the @NZWarriors do jerseys well. Those #WomenInLeague jerseys are 🔥🔥🔥 #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Chris Kennedy (@CKennedy80) August 10, 2018
The Mount Smart forward-pass frustrations continued, with the Knights’ opener coming off another shocker.
Touchie in perfect position and doesn’t call a 2m forward pass. I honestly don’t know why we have touch judges. #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Eden Richards (@Eden_Richards) August 10, 2018
Big League’s Martin Gabor was pining for the dulcet tones of Glen Larmer and Daryl Halligan.
Can we please have the Sky NZ commentary? It’s so flat coming out of a studio in Sydney. No atmosphere #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Martin Gabor (@MartinJGabor) August 10, 2018
The respect the @NZWarriors are showing post-match to any retiring players, refs, anyones has to be… respected. #classytouch
— Matt Russell (@MattRussellFOX) August 10, 2018
What we said
Not pretty, but convincing and super-important. The @NZWarriors put one foot in the finals door with a 20-4 victory over @NRLKnights to end a four-match Mt Smart losing streak. #NRLWarriorsKnights #WarriorNation #ThisWarriorsLife #letsgonewarriors https://t.co/nv2feixWjf
— This Warriors Life (@thiswarriorslyf) August 10, 2018
Remember when the (Aussie) critics said Roger was throwing his career away at the @NZWarriors ? A history-making Dally M Medal beckons after another best-on-ground performance.#NRLWarriorsKnights #playerratings #WarriorNation #ThisWarriorsLife https://t.co/em4Iho1JTN
— This Warriors Life (@thiswarriorslyf) August 10, 2018
Matt Cecchin gets the @NZWarriors retiree treatment ❤️ #nrlwarriorsknights #thefeels pic.twitter.com/nKL5bs0Wln
— This Warriors Life (@thiswarriorslyf) August 10, 2018
When the Broncos choke, the @NZWarriors win, Ivan Cleary rejects Phil Gould – and it's still only Saturday morning!#WarriorNation #everythingscomingupmillhouse #ThisWarriorsLife #ivancleary pic.twitter.com/GEZMmnxmQJ
— This Warriors Life (@thiswarriorslyf) August 10, 2018
Categories: Previews + Reviews, WARRIORS NEWS
Leave a Reply