Warriors coach wary of NRL’s fastest team

Ngatapa’s Briar Robb and GMC Kowhai player Kim Koia duel for the ball in a Poverty Bay Prem 2 women’s club hockey game on the turf at Harry Barker Reserve on Saturday. GMC won 3-0 to finish top of the table in the crossover round. YMP B thrashed Te Aowera 12-0 in the other Prem 2 game. In Prem 1 games, GMC Green edged Gisborne Girls’ High 1st XI 2-1 and defending champions YMP A whitewashed Paikea 5-0. Waituhi upset previously unbeaten Lytton Old Boys Traktion 1-0 in Prem 1 men’s games. Gisborne Boys’ High 1st XI, who are competing at the Super 8 secondary schools tournament in Hamilton this week, thumped LOB Resene Masters 11-1 last Thursday. Full club hockey report in tomorrow’s Herald.Picture by Paul Rickard

Warriors coach Andrew Webster is predicting spectacular play from the Gold Coast Titans when the two sides meet on Friday night at Cbus Super Stadium.

“Long-range tries,” he said, when asked what he expected of the 12th-placed Titans.

“They’re fast . . . probably the fastest team in the NRL. They have individuals that can pull you apart if you take half a step, so it’s a great opportunity for us to be on with our defence this week. “

The Warriors are equal-third on the ladder, sharing the spot now with Melbourne following Canberra’s defeat on the weekend against Newcastle.

Much has been made of the Warriors’ golden run home, with all of their opponents currently outside the top eight. But Webster yesterday reiterated the danger a side like the Gold Coast possess.

Asked how to shut the Titans down, he said: “Not giving them the space that they want.

“One-on-one tackles are going to be important. If you miss them, it’s going to be hard for the next guy to clean up because they’re just too fast.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge of that. Their defence has improved out of sight. They’ve done a really good job of stopping teams getting out of their own end, so we’ve got a really big job to get away and escape.”

The Warriors’ defence has  also improved hugely in 2023, having conceded the second-fewest points in the competition. However, the Titans are coming in off a morale-boosting 22-13 win over the eighth-placed Cowboys.

The side will be boosted by the large New Zealand expatriate community on the Gold Coast.

The fixture is regarded as virtually an extra home game for the Warriors although their success this season has led to that sort of support being mirrored elsewhere in Australia.

“Every time we go away we seem to have a lot of support. We played in Parra and I’ve never heard an opposition chant in Parra Stadium, so that was a first,” Webster said.

In his first stint with the Warriors in 2016, Webster had his first taste of the offshore support as an assistant coach.

“I remember we played on the Gold Coast and it was Jarryd Hayne’s return game from the NFL and they had a full house,” he said. “

But there were so many Warriors fans there it wasn’t funny. We’re looking forward to that again.” — AAP

Rugby league legend Wally Lewis has been diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a form of dementia. The Queensland State of Origin hero known as “the King” sought medical advice after becoming concerned by regular bouts of memory loss. CTE is a result of repeated concussions and head knocks. Lewis, 63, admits he suffered many of those in his decorated career. Lewis’s neurologist Rowena Mobbs said she was “90 percent certain”, based on scans, that Lewis had CTE. — AAP