The young forwards are up to the task, but it looks like there is something missing in that back division
The most impressive thing about the Warriors last week was the way the young forwards went against much more experienced opponents.
There was a lot of talk about whether the young Warriors pack could foot it at this level and they basically showed they can.
Props Sam Rapira
and Russell Packer stood up, while the new halves pairing of Brett Seymour and James Maloney also went well. Defensively Maloney was outstanding. For a little bloke he looks like he hits very hard.
I was a bit surprised to see him down for eight missed tackles. That sort of stat would suggest he is a poor defender but actually the opposite seemed to be the case.
He got bowled over once when he tried to go low but he is an aggressive tackler and he gets in there.
He will fall off tackles on bigger blokes but that's just the way the game is.
The stats can be misleading. It's not like the Titans were making breaks down his channel. I think he performed really well.
The depth of his kicking game and ability to find space with kicks was also exceptional, so he looks promising.
I was also impressed with new prop Jeremy Latimore. He was aggressive, he carried the ball well and made no mistakes. That's all you can ask for.
And he is a big unit in what is not a big Warriors side. If you look at it, Lewis Brown is tiny but stocky, Jacob Lillyman is short and stocky and Micheal Luck is not big either. Simon Mannering has also lost a bit of weight so they are not a big pack.
It looked like the emphasis the Warriors put into running during pre-season training paid off. Fitness is certainly a key in the modern game.
There is a lot of movement and a lot of physicality and it looks like players are getting smaller to suit a more expansive game.
There was also a massive improvement in terms of playing the game at the advantage line. Hooker Aaron Heremaia was exceptional, jumping out of dummy half and playing right at the advantage line.
You'd have to say the Warriors dropped off when Heremaia went to the bench, so hopefully this week Wade McKinnon plays and Lance Hohaia can put in a shift at dummy half.
Coming off the bench should give Wade more energy in his comeback match.
Lance was good at fullback - 16 carries for 172m is pretty impressive. But I'd like to see him being more of a sweeper and capitalising on inside balls.
The most disappointing thing about the Titans game was the Warriors' inability to find space for centres Brent Tate and Jerome Ropati. It just looks like there is something missing in that backline.
Former Warrior Denan Kemp scoring that try for Brisbane to beat the Cowboys just shows you the Warriors lack something in attack.
We've got international centres and Manu Vatuvei and Kevin Locke on the wings. I'd like to see these guys get a bit of space and see what they can do.
Tate and Ropati were always under pressure. They never had any space. All they could do was run from dummy half.
Hopefully as Seymour and Maloney get more synergy between them it will unleash the talent in the outside backs.
For that to happen there need to be more decoy runners and a sweeper running around to take focus off the centres and give them space. I don't think the Warriors do those things very well.
Hopefully we see an improvement tomorrow night against one of my old clubs Cronulla. The Sharks give you no room at all so it will be a good test to see if the Warriors can create space out wide.
The Sharks are not a side that creates a lot of opportunities, but with players like Paul Gallen and Anthony Tupou hitting the fringes that could change this season.
Ricky Stuart is a coach who likes to play what is in front of him and they'll rely heavily on Trent Barrett, Scott Porter and Gallen to do that.
They struggled to get points last year but this year should be a different story. The Warriors are definitely in for another stern test tomorrow night.
