Of all the Warriors’ defeats this season, the 24-16 reverse to the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday evening will hurt the most.
For so many reasons.
Given the context of the campaign – and all the hard work that has gone into achieving such a lofty ladder position thus far.
Given the Houdini act against the Newcastle Knights last weekend, which felt like a bonus win and needed to be capitalised on. Given the desperate desire to enact revenge on the Titans, for all the voodoo, pain and misery they have inflicted over the past three years. And given top-four rivals Brisbane slipped up on Friday night, the Broncos turned over at home by the Parramatta Eels.
This match – the first of four remaining games at Go Media Stadium this season – was one they simply had to win. Instead, it turned into a bit of a nightmare as the Titans wrested control from an early 10-0 deficit and never really handed it back, scoring 24 unanswered points before Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s try on the hour mark provided some hope.
The early loss of Wayde Egan to concussion was critical and a major turning point. It only added to the misery, given the hooker has become even more important since Luke Metcalf’s sad demise. But what hurts the most is the way they lost; undone by errors, execution and indiscipline, allowing the Titans to prosper with their low-risk, no-mistakes formula.
The Warriors were also – by their standards – exposed defensively for all four tries. The effort was there but the Warriors weren’t themselves and got into more of a hole as the game progressed.
The numbness was evident after the match, with a sombre atmosphere as the squad greeted family and friends before they headed up to a team dinner. No one had to say much.
The result probably ended any slim hopes of a top-two finish – which would have meant a home semifinal in week one – and will add more pressure in the race to stay in the top quartet, ahead of the pursuing Penrith Panthers and the Broncos.
On the other side of Mt Smart Stadium, the atmosphere was extremely different. Coach Des Hasler, who Sydney media had speculated could be in line for the sack, was one of the last to return to the Titans dressing room before a raucous rendition of the team song. Saturday was the ideal response, celebrated wildly by their travelling support, which included all their major sponsors.
There is no doubt the Warriors are in a bit of a tangle. Two wins from their last five matches is respectable but they haven’t had a decent, all-round performance since the crackerjack win against the Sharks in the first week of June.
Injuries are also again starting to bite. Mitch Barnett remains a glaring absence, while young centre Ali Leiataua cruelly picked up another injury in reserve grade on Saturday. Metcalf is gone for the season and Rocco Berry is out with his dislocated shoulder. Kurt Capewell is playing busted – to fill a gap at centre – while Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has lost his mojo and confidence. There’s no reason why the winger can’t bounce back – look what he did in 2023 and to a lesser extent last year – but the NRL is a brutal environment to try to regain form.
The halves have also regressed. After an impressive debut against the Wests Tigers, Tanah Boyd has yet to stamp his mark on another game. It wasn’t easy on Saturday – as the Titans controlled the ruck for long periods – but his yardage kicks were often a shade too long and he failed to test the line with his running game, as he had done so well in the Tigers win, which made backline moves easier to shut down. Most plays unfolded before the advantage line, leaving the Titans ready to pounce on their targets. Chanel Harris-Tavita also had a middle-of-the-road type of match, without the involvement and energy that have defined his best performances this season.
The Warriors can regroup but will need to do so quickly, with the Redcliffe Dolphins this Friday before a trip to face the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs the following Saturday. While they will all say the right things about moving on, Saturday’s defeat – their sixth in the last seven clashes with the Titans – will leave a few scars: more than the Las Vegas humbling against the Canberra Raiders (it was round one, after all) or the loss to the same team in May, given the Warriors were without both Barnett and Fisher-Harris that night.
And more than the Melbourne mauling, as the Storm can do that to anyone, or the defeat to Brisbane, when the Broncos ran hot, while the Panthers may have been depleted that night in June but they are still Penrith.
The Titans are an underrated team – and played superbly – but shouldn’t be able to dominate the Warriors on their home patch in that way. The greatest concern is the pattern of performances since their second bye in mid-June, as they have misplaced the formula that was so effective in the 10-3 record before that, with aggressive defence, goal-line resilience and accurate attack. They have to get it back quickly.
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.