Another subpar outing for the backs and halves, while it was tough to pinpoint a genuine standout from the Warriors’ ragtag 17 in a comprehensive loss to the Sharks.
1 REECE WALSH: Responsible for some of the best and a decent portion of the worst moments for the Warriors. Scorched over for his first try of 2022, ran for a team-high 131 metres and was a busy bee in attack, but an errant goal-line pass and gifting the Sharks two tries – via a failure to clean up a grubber and a loose pass from a scrum win – underpinned a wildly erratic second half. Still can’t find the timing as a playmaker that marked the first 10 or so games of his NRL career and missed the mark far more often than he hit it tonight. 5
2 DALLIN WATENE-ZELEZNIAK: An absolutely dazzling aerial put-down will probably fool a few into declaring DWZ the Warriors’ best on ground, but he ran for just 59 metres on 10 carries and his opposing winger, Ronaldo Mulitalo, may just have tipped him out of the Kiwis team with his two-try effort. 5.5
3 ROCCO BERRY: Keeping this kid in the line-up isn’t doing him or the team any favours. Bright-ish start and had a line-break and a line-break assist, and racked up a hefty 22 tackles. But a bad miss on opposite Talakai, who didn’t even need to use his bulk to stand up Berry for a try, signalled the start of another subpar NRL outing, which featured a bombed try among other attacking faux pas. 4
4 ADAM POMPEY: A return of 15 runs for 94 metres is passable, but Pompey is otherwise stealing a wage at centre. Offers little, and if there’s no other options – with Jesse Arthars surely set to mercifully replace Berry – then Stacey Jones should consider moving Montoya in to centre and Pompey to the wing, where he at least resembles a first-grader. Kick-off dead on the full was reprehensible. 4
5 MARCELO MONTOYA: Not his best work, with just 79 metres on 13 carries from the habitual back-five energy barometer. Plus his opposing winger bagged a hat-trick. 5
6 CHANEL HARRIS-TAVITA: A few nice touches on attack but a bad error deep in Warriors territory soon after returning from an HIA led to a Sharks try, kicked just once and gave away a penalty. Brave defensively but was targeted, making 12 tackles and missing six. 4.5
7 SHAUN JOHNSON: Encouraging start combining with Murchie on the fringes, but his edge was exposed by the Sharks’ attack during a first-half onslaught and Johnson’s body language from that point on was terrible. Sparked up a couple of times, had a hand in the Warriors’ only second-half try and ran the ball 10 times for 78 metres. But his kicking game was pedestrian and just looked super-clunky on attack and very flat overall. Hard to watch. 4.5
8 BEN MURDOCH-MASILA: Good impact early on (five hit-ups for 47 metres, eight tackles) before leaving the field with a reported dislocation after 21 minutes. 5
9 WAYDE EGAN: Blistering start, laying on Walsh’s try and bursting out of dummy-half to score the second himself. Less prominent after the Sharks took control, naturally, but played the full 80 and racked up a team-high 37 tackles to be a contender for the Warriors’ best-on-ground honour. 6.5
10 JAZZ TEVAGA: Awful pass to Bunty forced an ugly first-half turnover. Otherwise tried hard with 10 runs for 94 metres and 27 tackles in 48 minutes. Gagging to get back to more of a loose forward role. 5.5
11 EUAN AITKEN: Had 12 runs for 72 metres (and should have had a try assist late in the first half after a strong charge and superb ball over the top) and 26 tackles in 59 metres. A handling error that should probably be pinned on Walsh’s pass. Not too bad but down on his general 2022 standards. 5.5
13 JACK MURCHIE: Looked great early running off SJ’s shoulder, but undid that with a shocking play-the-ball that led to Mulitalo’s go-ahead try. Some eye-catching moments on attack in the second half to finish with 77 metres on eight runs to go with 20 tackles. 5
12 TOHU HARRIS: Reliable as ever, toiling away for 31 tackles and 126 metres on a team-high 18 carries. Less prominent in a ball-playing capacity this week, chalking up just six passes. 6
14 JOSH CURRAN: Good to see the cult hero back and got through a moderate amount of work in 53 minutes – six runs for 50 metres and 21 tackles – but needs to have his kicking license revoked, pulling out a dud fourth-tackle grubber for himself…not for the first time this season. 5.5
15 BUNTY AFOA: Credited with an error soon after entering the fray thanks to Jazz’s dreadful pass. Otherwise solid with 11 hit-ups and 19 tackles in 40 minutes, without really standing out. 5
16 DUNAMIS LUI: Played 19 minutes off the bench and got stuck in with seven hit-ups and 12 tackles. Most definitely in the plodder class, though. 5
17 BAYLEY SIRONEN: One of his better performances in a Warriors jersey, at least aesthetically. Impressed with a couple of touches at five-eighth while CHT was off for an HIA and was highly involved as the edge back-rower afterwards, making a line-break, dishing a try-assist for DWZ and making 31 tackles. 6.5
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