Semi-Final 2 | Warriors vs Knights | Post Match Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

New Zealand Warriors vs Newcastle Knights
Eden Park, Auckland

[u/Dense_Side_90]

Well done wahs fans in making it about you.

[u/lagavuhlinlad]

Warriors haven’t played well in the last month or so. They were ripe for an upset loss.

[u/perma_banned2025]

Salty about some calls, and gutted to see such a promising season end like that, but we just weren't in it.
The last two weeks the boys have been gassed too early, made some terrible decisions on 5th tackle plays, and our kicking game has been lacking.
We ran out of depth this season through injuries and it became very obvious over the last month.
Excited to see how we go next year with Tanah back in and hopefully a couple of the young guys coming through can shore up some of the current defensive weaknesses.
Anyway, not going to dwell on it.
Footy rolls on and we'll be back to try again next year.
Go well Knights, I hope like hell you boys can knock the Panthers and make the GF along with the Dolphins. That's the GF we all want to see now

[u/justpicksomething84 → u/perma_banned2025]

Well said bro

[u/Few-Garage-3762]

Up the Kiwis

[u/OkBrush7534]

i had work and missed the game. are wahs fans being salty or were they genuinely robbed?

[u/justpicksomething84 → u/OkBrush7534]

Not robbed, we didn't play well enough. Knights defence was superb and our attack was not.

Still, 3 calls right near the end were terrible. Not saying it would have changed the outcome but they were 3 incorrect calls. As others have stated, we got some our way as well.

[u/Straight-Pickle-9657 → u/OkBrush7534]

They are focused on the 50/50 calls that went against them but not worried about the ones that went for them. Ponga copped a shoulder to the head and there was no sin-bin, if it was the other way around, they would have used it in their argument about being “robbed”.

[u/Black_And_Gold_Sox → u/OkBrush7534]

A few genuine 50/50 calls that have gone either way during the season didn't go their way towards the end of the game. Other calls did go their way at other times during the game.

[u/NotABot0_0 → u/Black_And_Gold_Sox]

It was a loose carry. If you can strip the ball with minimal force while getting bumped off then the ball carrier doesn't have much of a grip on it.

The miss on the Frizell escort would have taken them to golden point but it probably would've delayed the inevitable. Warriors never looked in it, and I don't think they've got anyone that can kick a field goal, given they had plenty of opportunity to level things with a 2 pt drop kick but opted let a prop run on 5th tackle more than once.

[u/PositionOk8409 → u/OkBrush7534]

Genuinely robbed of golden point.

From there who knows.

[u/the_orange_president → u/OkBrush7534]

I mean both can be true. Those last two calls were atrocious and may have enabled us to win. But based on these two finals games we'd reached our ceiling anyway and the Panthers would have flattened us. So it doesn't matter.

[u/SpeakerAccomplished4 → u/the_orange_president]

It was a hell of a season. I think with a few less injuries the Warriors come back stronger again next year. Sometimes teams just run out of puff at the end of the year, and I think that's what happened here.

[u/Vagrantze1 → u/the_orange_president]

This is the take. Real shame because there was some genuine excitement during the season but the depth ran out

[u/coffeeanddurian → u/OkBrush7534]

genuinely robbed of an equaliser shot at goal, genuinely robbed of a chance to attack with about 4 mins left. but they also had heaps of other chances and played pretty crap without capewell, so

[u/Zestyclose_Charity_1]

Why is no one blaming the goal kicking for the wahs, like two tries each and no one mentions it was the reason the wahs lost

[u/DirtyRanga12 → u/Zestyclose_Charity_1]

Because it was a sideline kick that even the best players struggle with and Taine was pulled off for an HIA not even five minutes afterwards.

[u/Feetz_NZ → u/Zestyclose_Charity_1]

Cos it was a single missed kick from the literal sideline.

[u/3pass]

Just fell to my knees at Henny Penny

[u/thisispants]

The warriors just made too many errors.

[u/njaesor]

Where the fuck was the wahs fullback

[u/jirskyr → u/njaesor]

HIA

[u/guillotinepress19]

Warriors were robbed. 1st one was inconclusive at best, decision stays as knock on, 2nd one, Greg drops it cold, play it in real time, if you say that's a strip you're off your head and have never played League, 3rd was debatable and Tyson did have his hands outstretched and was around the ball but changed his cours

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/guillotinepress19]

He didn't change his course. If you have watched footy that was the correct call, never looked at the chaser once only had eyes on the ball, never deviated from his original line.

[u/NotABot0_0 → u/Inevitable_Goat_335]

He doesn't deviate his line but you can't overrun where the ball comes down and impede a kick chaser.

[u/Drizen → u/guillotinepress19]

Let’s ignore the fact that Wahs scored their first try off a bullshit 6 again

[u/ShaunJohnsonsJohnson]

Shout out to Knights on a well deserved win but I hope we never play again at Eden Park in a finals game ever again. The amount of people around me where all I heard was the rules getting explained was too damn high and any time I gave abuse to Ashley Klein I felt like was jesus on the cross. It just didn't feel right

[u/startledroar → u/ShaunJohnsonsJohnson]

It’s the same feeling when we take Origin to Melbourne. The crowd might be big, but they just don’t get the game.

[u/StateCompetitive7544]

Why hasn’t it been mentioned that Barny got caught on the 5th tackle twice in the second half. They were some poor options but I get fan bases being disappointed and taking it out on the ref it’s the easy option. (I’d probably be the same and thought Wahs got the 50/50 in the first half).

Good season Wahs i would love if we had a shot at a minor premiership next year. Happy for the Knights fanbase, it’s been a long time.

Tickets purchased and happy to celebrate the season next week regardless of the outcome.

[u/too_invested31]

Unfortunately the 50/50 calls at the end has taken the attention away the incredible Knights defensive effort. 

The Wahs had so many attacking sets particularly in the first half and to keep them to only 2 tries was crazy. 

[u/Feetz_NZ → u/too_invested31]

To be fair none of the 3 howlers in the last 10 mins were '50/50' they were all objectively incorrect.

[u/saintcitydiaries → u/too_invested31]

I’m giving Phoenix Crossland Man of the Match and the Kiwis 9 jumper after that “playing with his heart on his sleeve” performance

[u/Zestyclose_Plum_8096 → u/saintcitydiaries]

The thing i really liked is when he went sideways the second he saw 1/2 a gap he just powered at it, quite often getting over the advantage line which allowed a quick play the ball. Nothing worse the people going sideways for 1/2 the field and then getting caught.

[u/saintcitydiaries → u/Zestyclose_Plum_8096]

You mean sorta similar to how Dane would run sideways but the difference is it kinda worked for Dane whereas others it didn’t lmao

When Dane went sideways to set that gap up for Marzew I thought he was gone and completely forgot that the Wahs had a FB lol

[u/Comprehensive-Net949 → u/saintcitydiaries]

Phoenix had an absolute monster of a game, what a fucking champion. He's been one of our best players along with Fletcher Sharpe this year.

[u/EmLiz21_7]

I mostly follow the AFL, but every now and then I check in on how the Knights are going as my late grandpa was a big fan. I tuned in the last couple of minutes - wow! I’m gonna have to go onto Kayo and watch the rest of the match itself, but go Knights! My grandpa would have been so happy. Will be watching next weekend!

[u/Flitdawg → u/EmLiz21_7]

Omg, she's an advertisement isn't she......

Get Kayo

[u/coasteraz]

Stoked for the Knights. They will be up against it next week but a Knights v Dolphins GF would be nothing but good vibes.

[u/saintcitydiaries → u/coasteraz]

I feel that any GF with teams that haven’t been in it in the last 8 years would be awesome hehehehe however? If our Storm boys were in the Finals this year I wouldn’t be saying that at all lmao

[u/zeitgeistbouncer → u/saintcitydiaries]

I mean, maybe it's time for Storm to take a couple of years off. Really get a sniff of the bottom of the ladder. Let fans hate 'em a little less for being perpetual spoilers for damn near 2 decades

[u/coasteraz → u/zeitgeistbouncer]

Our one year off will be enough, thankyou.

[u/saintcitydiaries → u/coasteraz]

The Bloody Cheek of it aye lol they crack a semi final playoff and all of a sudden they’re immortals lol

[u/zeitgeistbouncer → u/saintcitydiaries]

The Bloody Cheat of it aye

ftfy

[u/ShaunJohnsonsJohnson]

I hope Webby's message at the end of this game is to embrace the pain and disappointment. If we are serious, we will use this moment to kick us up the arse next season

[u/thisispants → u/ShaunJohnsonsJohnson]

I said the same thing about the Raiders 😔

[u/Green-Circles → u/ShaunJohnsonsJohnson]

Exactly that.

Sometimes the brutally hard lessons are the best ones.

[u/ImpressionFeisty8359]

They will need a bloody miracle against the penny panthers. Hard to see a major upset. They have exceeded everyone's expectations and have crushed it. Sad for the wahs after the best regular season in their history. It is a cruel sport. All those injuries took its toll in the end.

[u/Comprehensive-Net949 → u/ImpressionFeisty8359]

I think the Panthers may have a bit of an issue with Clearys foot, usual panthers hush hush but I reckon if the knights wanna take them down they're gunning for Cleary at any opportunity.

[u/SpeakerAccomplished4 → u/Comprehensive-Net949]

I'm nervous about that, but I think if he lets someone else take the kicks at goal and most of the kicks from our own half, he can probably manage it a bit. But they're for sure going to run at him, see if he can still move okay.

[u/ImpressionFeisty8359 → u/Comprehensive-Net949]

Should be targeting him the whole time and tiring the forwards out with a lot of offloads.

[u/SpeakerAccomplished4 → u/ImpressionFeisty8359]

That's when we lose, when the other forward pack gets the upper hand. There's a few teams who do well with that, not sure if the knights are one of them.

[u/ImpressionFeisty8359 → u/SpeakerAccomplished4]

They are 7th for a reason.

[u/boyblueau → u/ImpressionFeisty8359]

Sad for the wahs after the best regular season in their history.

Except for when we were Minor Premiers in 2002. The year we also made the GF.

[u/zeitgeistbouncer → u/boyblueau]

Crazy to think that but for a little F/A the Wahs could've had an entirely different finals story. Win the Minor Premiership, knock of the Chooks, coast into the Prelim, come up against the Kni....

oh, never mind. It was inevitable.

[u/daingusjhuge → u/boyblueau]

2002 was 17 wins 7 losses. 2026 was 18 wins 6 losses

[u/ImpressionFeisty8359 → u/daingusjhuge]

Technicalities.

[u/boyblueau → u/daingusjhuge]

Cannot deny the stats in terms of wins. But I think a Minor Premiership is a more successful regular season even with less wins.

[u/AussieBattler228]

Looking forward to next year be good to see a Linnane / Boyd halves pairing. 

Hopefully Warbrick can hold onto the ball and stay on the field.

[u/DeficientPositivity]

I am now supporting the dolphins, if they lose next week it's whoever wins the other game

[u/More_Discussion_3783 → u/DeficientPositivity]

Dolphins to win vs newcastle in the grand final is the perfect outcome. We can't have penrith there again, and I despise the easts

[u/Caramilk_man]

Warriors being super disappointing stinking it up in finals again. Its pretty embarrasing. Some dud calls at the end against us and our halves suck. I'm not sure if any other team has so many last plays that end with a one off run that does nothing. I also wonder if we just played the two form teams in the finals.

[u/jirskyr → u/Caramilk_man]

As a Tigers fan - we do, we have so many last plays like that.

[u/Green-Circles → u/Caramilk_man]

Peaked too damn early in the season :(

[u/ChasingEquilibrium → u/[deleted]]

Exactly, if Boyd came back early enough and resumed the same form he had at the beginning prior to injury, or Metcalfe didn’t blow his hamstring again, add RTS to one edge and could’ve been a different story.

We’re almost there, just need better luck with injuries. 3 years in a row now that injury has completely hampered the warrior’s back end run.

We lacked X factor in the halves and that was telling with our fifth tackle plays with Boyd and Metcalfe gone. Tavita and Martin are probably the weakest long kickers in the comp and that was putting more pressure and fatigue on our defence.

[u/BastionNZ]

Mid way thru season I was calling Leka hugely overrated with alot to work on, but man he really is a talent. Played with a ton of heart out on one hamstring. Center is definitely his position for now.

Wish he Jonah lomu'd Ponga on that break in the first half instead of trying to flick it out

[u/boyblueau → u/BastionNZ]

Center is definitely his position for now.

Center is his position until they find an actual centre. It's the same with Tallis Duncan at the Rabbitohs. Both of them should be edge back rowers but they're covering holes in the lineup due to their insane talent.

[u/BastionNZ → u/boyblueau]

I definitely prefer Leka as a center over back rower at the minute until he matured. His game works well running at backs, but can struggle when he's shifted more to the center running at bigger guys.

Eventually he'll be good to go in the backrow

[u/Puggo2026]

Looking at the team stats it’s crazy the Knights won that

Pretty much all stats favour the Warriors

[u/Mathuselahh → u/Puggo2026]

We frustrated them and they crumbled in the halves. Leka and Capewell with the big plays got them points.

[u/zeitgeistbouncer → u/Mathuselahh]

Our defense was supreme. It's crazy how we've turned that on for the finals when previously we were letting in 20s, 30s, and 40s recently.

[u/DirtyRanga12]

Laban was shocking the last two games, which also happened to be the two most important games of the season. I swear that bleach fucked his brain cells up or something. Not to mention the extremely suspect calls from both the bunker and ref against both sides.

Definitely not happy and I'll be supporting the Panthers out of pure spite next week.

Till next year though, UP THE WAHS

[u/JaquesLeCoqGrande]

Yeah would suck to finish 2nd then get bounced by the 7th seed lol

[u/SadiusHunter]

Well done Wahs, some dubious calls but it was a great contest regardless, here's hoping next year you guys don't have as many injuries.

Up the fucking KNIGHTS

[u/tw272727 → u/SadiusHunter]

If the sin bin got called we would have folded them

[u/Icy_Contact4325]

I think the injury’s finally took their toll sadly 

[u/Beneficial_Aside_298]

Got to give it to the Wah Fans (atleast in this thread).. you have all been gracious losers. Shattered that we had to play each other because I was wanting us both there in the end. Thanks for a great game

[u/Bkz052]

'Don't you know who I am?'

Yes indeed, Adam, we know all too well now

[u/toyoto]

Capewah was pretty immense, best on the park for us i thought

[u/the_orange_president → u/toyoto]

Some huge plays. Classic big game player. Need at least one in your team

[u/SportAndNonsense → u/toyoto]

Couldn’t have written it better myself. He was huge.

[u/Street-Pop945 → u/toyoto]

Old heads stepped up tonight. Hopefully the young guys can learn from this, we should be back here soon.

[u/boyblueau → u/toyoto]

Followed by Leka hopping along on one leg.

[u/Fresh_Internal_6085 → u/toyoto]

Dom Young in shambles when old man capey ran him down.

He had a great game 👍

[u/Repulsive_Set4541 → u/toyoto]

He was scary good, making metres with ease.

[u/kiaxxl]

I am confused that the Wah I saw putting in the most effort was geriatric Capewell

[u/Additional_Front4374 → u/kiaxxl]

yep. There was a couple of loose balls on the ground that Crossland got to. That was the game for me. Wahs outside of Capewell just weren't urgent enough, while the Knights were.

[u/Observer779 → u/kiaxxl]

Showed his class.

[u/eazyduzzit10]

One thing that kinda flew under the radar was Dylan Lucas actually taking the field tonight. Actually crazy he recovered so quickly. First thought seeing his injury I was thinking he might be done as a first grader or something. Miraculous recovery

[u/SurfKing69 → u/eazyduzzit10]

What's the point though? He played twenty ineffective minutes off the bench.

[u/Informal-Quit-9344 → u/SurfKing69]

Instils confidence for him playing/starting next week as opposed to there being question marks about his match fitness

[u/ImpressionFeisty8359 → u/eazyduzzit10]

That injury is nearly career ending.

[u/jontyismlg → u/eazyduzzit10]

The fact he was even named this week had me in shock after seeing his injury live. What a fucking beast man. The pain that these players play through would have me on the couch for months

[u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

If you look at the sheer talent Newie have in their squad, obviously Ponga, but Best, the Fletchers, Crossland, the Dylans, Francis, Young etc…you can make a strong argument that where they are now is where they really should be..

And there’s only been one major change between the spoon last year and a prelim this year..

On Crossland, he was fucking immense today. Everywhere the ball was, he was going after it. I swear I thought there was two of him out there at some stages.

It’s those sort of blokes and that sort of attitude that wins you the big games.

Obviously I want Penrith to win next week, but if we’re going to get beat, I could live with Newie doing it.

[u/RichardAndrewJackson → u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

Good luck to youse next week. Hopefully it’s a cracker

[u/Atomicstarr → u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

Agree, if newy beat us next ill be on the bandwagon for the gf. I said earlier in the year that knights, wahs & fins will be there abouts at the end of the season.

Newcastle have that dog in them & have had it all year.

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

Don't forget these guys are also young and some are trying to find their feet in a new position. Sharpe, 22yo and developing in a new position (fb to five eight) / Mooney 24yo and first full season as a starter & getting consistent minutes / Manuleleua 22yo, first season in first grade and only played about 10 games / Hopwood 20yo, should not be starting but because of injuries has played a big role late in the season / McEwen 21yo, first full season. etc etc.

We ideally should be competing if you add Brown into that young core. We have quite alot of depth now, and a great young core to build around, oh and KP.

[u/Fresh_Internal_6085 → u/Inevitable_Goat_335]

You’re spot on mate. The main issue you’re going to face with continued success is keeping all of them..that’s when the salary cap starts to bite..

Bring DB back into the squad next year and I think he’ll be the one to tie the string around the parcel so to speak.

He was playing great before he went down with injury, and I also think that the difference now, is that they all look like they are playing for each other and for a coach they actually like and respect.

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

For sure. That's the main thing, they are playing for eachother now. They are playing to their strengths and they are reaping the rewards of a coach that has put them in a position to do so.

Yeah i fear we will lose Best. But honestly, Sharpe is a non negotiable we need to lock him up as soon/long as we can. Manuleleua will play himself into huge contract offers in a few years, i'm just glad we extended him till 28.

[u/Fresh_Internal_6085 → u/Inevitable_Goat_335]

Yep, they look like a traditional Newcastle side now.

Not flashy but willing to do the little things that win games, Crossland today was a perfect example.

They had to pay what they did to bring DB in, he was really the lure which kept Ponga at the club and showed him (KP) they were fair dinkum about chasing success.

But, yes that salary he’s getting is going to make it hard to keep everyone else. No doubt Best is going to get a solid bump up on his next deal wherever that is.

They still should be able to sign Sharpe on a relatively ‘cheap’ (for lack of a better word) deal, considering he is still somewhat making his name.

But there is depth there..and with the speed and intensity of the game these days, depth is arguably one of the most important facets a team can have if they’re going to be serious contenders.

[u/bringabeeralong → u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

They have 1.4m missing too

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/bringabeeralong]

Probably like 2.5m missing haha. Don't forget on top of Brown, we are also missing our 2 starting front rowers, Jsaf and Mooney.

[u/Fresh_Internal_6085 → u/bringabeeralong]

Exactly. If they can all stay healthy next season, they’re going to be extremely hard to beat.

Holbrook has done wonders with them.

[u/bringabeeralong → u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

Is there a question of ''are they better without brown?' Could have had two high quality players on 700k each instead of one guy who never really demanded that price tag in the first place

[u/Fresh_Internal_6085 → u/bringabeeralong]

Not at all. Is he earning above his true worth? Yes.., but when he’s played, he’s been outstanding.

They really had to pay overs for him to bring another marquee player in alongside Ponga otherwise there was a strong chance Ponga would have left.

11 try assists, over 100m per game and over 300 tackles in just 15 matches.

They’ll be better again when he returns.

[u/Informal-Quit-9344 → u/Fresh_Internal_6085]

Exactly, teams like Newcastle don't exactly attract top tier halves like Brown by paying market rates. And with the increase in cap space soon he'll probably be closer to what he's worth regardless.

For me the price wasn't the main issue, the length of the deal was. Need some explanation for that one tbh

[u/Fresh_Internal_6085 → u/Informal-Quit-9344]

Can’t disagree re the contract length.

Although it probably ties in with getting him to agree to sign in the first place.

To me, long contracts disincentivise ongoing dedication and hard work..if they know they’re making a motza for x number of years regardless of whether they’re the best player in the side or if they down tools and wind up in reserve grade (ie - Josh Schuster..), then it’s a major risk for the club to take.

In an ideal world, these sorts of contracts would be linked to some form of KPI’s but there are too many variables in the game for that to ever be a realistic scenario.

But like you said, it’s harder for clubs like Newcastle to attract these blokes and they sometimes have to bend over backwards to get their signature.

That may very well change if they continue on this upwards trajectory however..

And if at the time, it meant placating Ponga’s fears about whether or not they were fair dinkum about chasing real success, and led to him re-signing, then there’s a lot of value in that as well I suppose.

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/bringabeeralong]

Flair up cunt. Brown is a classy player, i would hope he makes us better. Smith for how good he is, is a turnstile on defence.

[u/AutoModerator → u/Inevitable_Goat_335]

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[u/peppercornau]

Knights respect the Warriors and vice versa. Would rather have knocked out anyone else but love to know by next weekend the majority of you guys will be cheering us on. The Knights + Wahs fan base will be unstoppable lol

[u/sour_dawg → u/peppercornau]

Right this second every team left in the comp can get fucked. Tomorrow it'll be Knights bandwagon all day!

[u/peppercornau → u/sour_dawg]

Totally fair.

[u/Repulsive_Set4541 → u/sour_dawg]

Fair enough

[u/phillyg31]

Laban is a good player with massive potential but needs to work on his one on one defence. So many line breaks the past month started with a fend to his chest while reaching.

[u/PositionOk8409 → u/phillyg31]

One of Webby’s biggest fuck ups this year is not resting Laban in that last round.

The kid has had an insane workload for his age. He looked absolutely flogged the last two games

[u/Clutch_Control96 → u/phillyg31]

Pretty sure he’s busted aye. He went on a pretty great stretch but has been wanting since, getting skinned and missing tackles.

[u/legionairmusic → u/phillyg31]

He was out of his depth tonight. Not quite Jaiyden Hunt level but he got palmed away with ease on at least two occasions and looked absolutely gassed chasing.

[u/PositionOk8409 → u/legionairmusic]

Out of his depth is a stretch. He's still one of the most talented forwards in the comp coming through.

He was just completely burnt out come finals.

[u/Altruistic-Unit485 → u/phillyg31]

He hasn’t been right the last couple of games. Clearly a bit injured

[u/phillyg31 → u/Altruistic-Unit485]

Yea true, blonde hair Laban is a different guy

[u/Altruistic-Unit485 → u/phillyg31]

He was great the first game after dying his hair to be fair. MOTM that day.

[u/Lukin4]

I've been saying it for 3 years now, Phoenix Crossland is our glue guy. Just turns up every week and does his job.

[u/metlson → u/Lukin4]

He is old school Newcastle - just constant effort and grit

[u/keithstips]

Barnett got in the way of the halves or seemed to over call them quite a few times in the 2nd half. He hit it up twice on tackle five I recall and kicked on the fifth for himself, not his job last time I looked.

[u/Observer779 → u/keithstips]

Tbf, he almost scored and his kick was pretty good. They were struggling on the end plays.

[u/Maleficent-Home-7626 → u/keithstips]

Absolutely but listen to warriors fans and it was the ref

[u/bigbadwofl → u/keithstips]

Did it in origin too

[u/liltealy92 → u/keithstips]

Because neither of the halves were putting the side in their back

[u/Decent_Regret_1665 → u/liltealy92]

Thought both of them were digging the line quite abit. They both played as best I thought CHT and TMM could. Cant expect them to turn into Nathan Cleary come finals

[u/liltealy92 → u/Decent_Regret_1665]

This sort of thinking is exactly why the Warriors haven’t yet won the comp. Enabling mediocrity

[u/Decent_Regret_1665 → u/liltealy92]

I don’t agree, I think I’m an outlier when it comes to the fandom. As you can see everyone is having a go at the boys. It’s not my place to say what others should think, it’s just my opinion at the end of the day.

But we had Shaun Johnson as our half, one of the best halves of his generation. And still every game the warriors lost he was scapegoated and blame. I don’t think the warriors fans accept mediocrity infact it’s the opposite. They tear down excellent players because results didn’t go their way.

[u/bringabeeralong → u/Decent_Regret_1665]

Their kicking game was horrible, kicks either too short or too long everytime, only one that wasn't was the kick at the end of the game

[u/Decent_Regret_1665 → u/bringabeeralong]

They’ve both never had a great kicking game. SJ/Tanner/Luke were the better kickers. I’m not saying they played great, they just played how I’ve always seen them as. Their biggest failure wasn’t their kicks, it was their attacking pieces that they’ve been scoring tries all season on the edges with that have gone missing these past couple games. Imo they kept switching out different pieces in the CTRs, wing, halves and 2nd row these last 5 weeks which has disrupted them in both attack and defence.

[u/roots__xo]

crossland used to give me the shits in the halves but god he just competes on every play, his desperation to get to the ball whenever it was on the turf was incredible

[u/Monotask_Servitor → u/roots__xo]

Wouldn’t be surprised to find out he played schoolboy union as an open side flanker, he competes like one.

[u/SarcasticMrFocks]

Knights defence was sliding perfectly whenever we tried to spread wide. Our halves looked lost, and we didn't help ourselves with missed tackles and dropped balls. Knights spine looking great.

I feel horribly vindicated but I called it weeks ago, Warriors out of finals in straight sets.

[u/skinnycarlo]

My personal favourite Ennisism was in this game. Soiying the unsoiyable

[u/subsbligh]

The week one top four loser curse continues

[u/kerbyage]

I don't agree with the cans being thrown but how is Ashley Klein still the 'top' ref in the game?

Five successful challenges against him, plus the strip one that could've been overturned as well. It's nonsense that he just keeps getting big games despite being dreadful for years at this point.

[u/valknut95 → u/kerbyage]

Plus the 2 he wouldn't allow us. Dodgy as

[u/BandicootSorcerer → u/kerbyage]

Because the fans and corporate sponsors love this type of game. V'Landys cares about money, and he's raking it in right now. As much as it frustrates me and plenty of others watching this, the NRL has sell out games and record viewership.

Unless that changes, or the RLPA threatens a player walkout and can back it up, it's business as usual.

[u/boyblueau → u/kerbyage]

Five successful challenges against him

Yeah that's wild! Is that a record?

[u/kawhg]

Man. will be just my luck as a kiwi fan if ponga gets injured this weekend. Still would’ve preferred a wahs premiership over a World Cup tbh

[u/GhostChips42 → u/kawhg]

First thing we did to cheer ourselves up in our whare was try to pick the starting lineup for the kiwis. It worked. We are fucking stacked. Wow.

[u/FewPreference3511]

Incredible that TMM was apparently a strip but the strip on AJ last week was a tackle

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/FewPreference3511]

McEwen was a tackle attempt, he hit AJ in the shoulder first.

[u/FewPreference3511 → u/Inevitable_Goat_335]

Yeah fine with that, so surely TMM tackled first as well?

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/FewPreference3511]

It was definitely different to the AJ one. TMM hands were only ever on the ball and he did having a cuffing action, but i personally thought it was bad ball security on Marzhew.

[u/Bobskidat → u/FewPreference3511]

Clearly the Knights are just better with their finger movements

[u/wouldz]

If Newcastle weren't decimated by injuries they'd be a comfortable top 4 team. The fact they're doing this without Brown is amazing. All effort you love to see it.

[u/Acrobatic_Flannel → u/wouldz]

Both starting props out too against that Wahs pack was a scary proposition.

[u/Sensitive_Engine2331 → u/wouldz]

I also feel like they are up for it to spite that exact thing, underdog mentality is an incredible thing, raiders built their whole season off it last year

[u/wouldz → u/Sensitive_Engine2331]

Crazy thing was, before brown did his knee their full strength spine hadn't played together since round 6. So they've been doing it all year basically, that's why I can't underestimate them even when they're down on troops.

Whether they can take it to the Panthers or not remains to be seen but they've got to have the belief that they can.

[u/Comprehensive-Net949 → u/wouldz]

I reckon they can get it done, it'll be a really tough battle but if they can defend as well as they did today, we have a chance especially with cleary injury cloud.

[u/Inevitable_Goat_335 → u/wouldz]

Ponga and Brown combo was looking scary good in the limited times we got to see it.

[u/Sensitive_Engine2331 → u/wouldz]

Penrith have their own injury woes to worry about, if there ever was a time for a sneak attack on them its right now

[u/PharambePants]

up the newcahhs i guess

[u/buttdurry → u/PharambePants]

Wahcastle?

[u/poopymcpoopface69420 → u/buttdurry]

Don’t do that to yourselves

[u/TheBigChonka]

I mean ultimately I feel the warriors got dudded at the end there but in saying that....

Entirely unacceptable for your halves to not be able to concoct nearly anything in 2 weeks of finals football.

Newcastle was good tonight as we're the Phins last week but neither team are exactly world beaters on defence. The fact they couldn't come up with more than 2 tries a game after finishing the season almost winning the minor prem is just entirely unacceptable.

I felt the forwards still laid a really good platform too, perhaps not as dominant as some games this year but good enough to allow more than 2 tries a game

[u/goshdammitfromimgur → u/TheBigChonka]

Warriors had second best defence in the competition this year

[u/Monotask_Servitor → u/TheBigChonka]

Our halves weren’t even our second best combos tbf. How many sides would do any better with their #1 and 2 halfbacks sidelined?

[u/Maleficent-Home-7626 → u/Monotask_Servitor]

Irreverent 

[u/Jezzwon → u/Monotask_Servitor]

Final tackle kick options were so so so bad in this game, third string syndrome doesn't excuse it.
One attacking kick was a short 5m chip directly to a defender...

[u/TheBigChonka → u/Monotask_Servitor]

I mean you can say that all you like but the reality is they played together a lot this year and performed FAR BETTER than what they dished up these last 2 weeks.

Yes obviously what you say is true and it's likely a totally different outcome if Tanah is still starting that's just a given.

But either they drastically over performed in the regular season or they heavily under performed tonight because this was nowhere near the quality they were dishing up 6 weeks ago

[u/Monotask_Servitor → u/TheBigChonka]

Yeah that’s true. I wonder if it’s just the case that they’ve got a limited gameplan that opposition coaches have figured out. It worked for a while there but definitely ran out of steam.

[u/SarcasticMrFocks → u/Monotask_Servitor]

The sweep play to the left where CHT slows the ball to draw a defender and then quick passes to Capewell is the only play they tried tonight, several times. Knights were all over that.

Kicks weren't great either.

[u/Monotask_Servitor → u/SarcasticMrFocks]

One kick tactic that we’ve used effectively that seems to have gone missing a bit lately was the attacking bomb to Laban or Leka, though maybe they decided the Knights were too hard to get over in the air with Ponga, Best and Young. Leka seemed to be on one leg for half the game too though (and still carried us).

[u/Large-Accident1245]

I’ll just say this.

When I went to put in my BS Machine predictions, a voice in my head went “Wahs will lose”.

I got the score entirely wrong BUT I did predict Knights to win by two points….