Will the new-look Warriors attack change their fortunes in 2020?

The carousel of contradictory stories has finally come to a halt with the New Zealand Warriors officially granted permission to enter Australia.

Now in Tamworth, the club is training while in isolation with May 28 circled on their calendars just like everybody else.

While the reporting has been diabolical and off the mark more often than not, there is no denying that it’s been a long slog to get to this point. It could all last for another 18 rounds if the Warriors don’t improve on their first two performances of the 2020 season.

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Despite CEO Cameron George claiming the Warriors will ‘kick ass’ when the game resumes, the numbers from Round 1 and 2 make for grim reading.

They’ve scored just six points, and it came through a penalty try.

Their opposition, on the other hand, managed 20 points both weeks.

But the most worrying number for a Warriors team that is at its best when displaying their famous attacking flare is a big fat zero in the line break column.

160 minutes.

0 line breaks.

“This will be the greatest story in rugby league when we come to Australia and kick your ass.”

So, how do the Warriors intend on kicking ass when the competition resumes?

Whatever their plans, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will be at the forefront.

He is perhaps the most important player to any NRL club at the moment. He’s the Warriors captain, best player, and some weeks, their only hope.

Stephen Kearney talked about changing Tuivasa-Sheck’s role before Round 1 kicked off this season — an interesting approach given the Dally M Medal and Golden Boot the 26-year-old has won playing a certain way in the last two seasons.

Kearney wants Tuivasa-Sheck more involved in good ball sets. He wants to take some of his production in kick returns and dragging the Warriors out of their own end, and direct it towards finishing off try-scoring plays at the other. More finesse in the opposition 20-metre line than brawn fighting up the field and away from his own. 

It’s early days so the sample size is small. Still, we’ve seen the odd glimpse of what this might look like in the opening two rounds. 

Here, Tuivasa-Sheck wraps around Tohu Harris. Tuivasa-Sheck being in the area is enough for the defence to take note with Enari Tuala sat in his seat until Kurt Mann scrambles across. Edrick Lee has already reacted to his inside man and come in on David Fusitu’a, leaving Patrick Herbert free on the wing. 

A better pass from the fullback and Herbert goes close to scoring.

Harris is the perfect back rower for Tuivasa-Sheck to play off and there’s a good chance we see the Warriors finish this same move in the corner once they get their timing.

It’s promising to see Tuivasa-Sheck looking to add to his game which is already considered among the best in the world. However, other times, Tuivasa-Sheck’s pass has looked forced and premeditated. He can do almost everything on a footy field, but throwing a bullet into the breadbasket has never been his strongest attribute.

As a regular repeater of “why change a winning formula”, there is enough potential in redirecting Tuivasa-Sheck’s production to persist with this new approach when the season resumes. Let’s face it, putting the team on his back and trying to do everything didn’t work in 2019. It’s worth a try.

The key to developing Tuivasa-Sheck into a more hands-on player in good ball areas is to not become too predictable. By the end of the game in Round 1, the Knights were reading the plays to get Tuivasa-Sheck involved like a book.

Kodi Nikorima can help with that.

He might not like it, but Nikorima’s best position for the Warriors right now is as a utility player and hooker. He’s shared the field with Wayde Egan at times this season and the Warriors have looked better for it.

Drifting around the field and alternating between being used like a dummy half, a ball-playing lock or a second fullback, a roving Nikorima used in conjunction with the new-look Tuivasa-Sheck is the Warriors’ best bet at success close to the opposition goal line.

Nikorima is at his most threatening when running the football. Having Tuivasa-Sheck attracting attention will get the best out of Nikorima while defence’s can’t sit back and ignore the diminutive utility, giving both that extra second to make a move.

Here, the gravity of Tuivasa-Sheck and the threat of him receiving the ball inside presents Nikorima with a gap before he puts on a step his captain would be jealous of.

Less Tuivasa-Sheck could well result in more points if Kearney can find the right balance.

The Warriors have always been at their best when throwing the footy around.

Every long-term fan can remember Jason Costigan yelling "they're playing basketball" as the ab-lib Warriors threw the "pill" around with reckless abandon - living life on the edge while fans at home sat on the edge of their seat. 

This group has a free pass to try whatever they like in 2020. They're already everybody's second-favourite team and the support will remain no matter what the win-loss columns read. If they can play an entertaining brand of football and score a few points with Tuivasa-Sheck in his new role, we're all happy. If it doesn't work out, nobody expects much of them this season anyway.

Here's hoping this new-look attack can result in the 2020 season being remembered for what the Warriors do for the competition on the field as much as what they're doing off it.

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