"Unfortunately we have yet to put in a full 80 minutes. On Saturday we lost our ebb and flow - with the quality of the National Competition you can't afford to do that [and] the Stallions showed this with 32 unanswered points."
Meanwhile, the Northern Swords 15s and 17s got their campaigns under way at the NZRL National Youth Tournament at Puketawhero Park in Rotorua yesterday.
Coming up against a well-versed Akarana Falcons team, the Swords 15s fell to a heavy 54-18 loss.
The scoresheet looked a tad more pleasing for the Swords 17s, however, they also recorded a loss, in the form of a 22-4 defeat to the Counties Manukau Stingrays.
The NZRL National Youth Tournament runs until Friday and is a breeding ground for players to make their mark.
In previous years it has launched pathways for Northlanders, such as James Fisher-Harris, Corey Harawira-Naera, Steel Kake and, more recently, Caleb Aekins.
Recent Warriors signing, Nathan Newton, also put his name on the radar at the 2014 tournament.
There are players in both the 15s and 17s that player scouts are also tracking the performance of. And on show at the tournament will be Northland referees Tane Kaiwai and Taylor Waenga.
For Kaiwai this will be his third national tournament while for 20-year-old Waenga it will be his first.
