Warriors v Titans
Kickoff: 4pm, Thursday, 24 April
Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
Friday night saw The Warriors dealt a savage dose of reality, going down 30 - 12 against a resurgent St George Illawarra Dragons they severely underestimated. The Warriors will be looking to put their embarrassment behind them in what was their worst game under Andrew Webster. Shaun Johnson acknowledged their shortcomings at this week's press conference but said they weren't letting it rock their confidence, with the team looking forward to this Thursday's Anzac Day clash against Des Hasler's winless Gold Coast Titans.
Even though their dwelling at the bottom of the table, the Titans have put in two seriously solid performances the last couple of weeks: narrowly going down by one point against Ricky Stuart's Raiders (sparking a classic war of words between the two coaches when the Titans were wrongly starved of a much needed penalty in the dying moments of the game), then last Saturday just being edged out by the high flying Manly Sea Eagles 34-30 in an absolute try-fest.
Here's a look at the teams:
Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Kolkstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Te Maire Martin 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitchell Barnett 11. Jackson Ford 12. Jacob Laban 13. Tohu Harris
Interchange: 14. Dylan Walker 15. Tom Ale 16. Zyon Maiu'u 17. Paul Roache
Titans: 1. AJ Brimson 2. Alofi'ana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. Harley Smith-Shields 5. Jojo Fifita 6. Tanah Boyd 7. Kieran Foran (C) 8. Moekai Fotuaika 9. Chris Randall 10. Jamin Jolliffe 11. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 13. Klese Haas
Interchange: 14. Sam Verrilis 15. Erin Clark 16. Issac Liu 17. Joseph Pahulu
Warriors selections
Zyon Maiu'u Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
A lot of attention was drawn towards the Warriors slender bench last week in regard to whether it was up to go the full distance against the Dragons. This week they have seriously bulked things up dropping Pompey to the reserves making way for the debut of giant Zyon Maiu'u, Dylan Walker also finally returns to the bench as well as Jacob Laban being promoted to the starting side with Kurt Capewell out due to injury.
Titans selections
Des Hasler has opted to stick with the same playing 17 as last week's side with a couple of experienced players in midfield, Phil Sami and Keenan Palasia, still injured.
2023 result
Warriors 28 - 18 Titans
Last year's only meeting between took place over on the Gold Coast, the Warriors got a bit of a scare before walking away with a 10-point victory despite having a one-man advantage for almost an hour after Moekai Fotuaika was sent off. At the time for them was unusual as they were in the midst of their seven-game winning streak, dispatching top tier oppositions left right and centre by margins of around 30 points a game.
This occasion marks only the second time an Anzac Day game has taken place in New Zealand, breaking the usual tradition of being played against Melbourne over in Australia. The only other time an Anzac Day clash has taken place at Mt Smart was also against the Gold Coast Titans in 2015, when the Titans had a rare victory over the Warriors 32 - 28, in a match that featured such legends as Nate Myles, David Fusitu'a, Ryan Hoffman, Ben Matulino and Thomas Leuluai.
Prediction
Both teams are backing up off the back of short turnarounds. The Titans have earned the respect of the league having run deep with a couple of the big clubs in the last two weeks going down by just one point and then one try in their last two games respectively, but the Warriors shouldn't read too much into this. The visitors have an expansive brand of football, and their game plan consists of forcing teams into shootouts with them trading try for try on the back of some low percentage plays, this might prove to be a risky strategy against a Warriors side who you don't want to just hand over possession and field position too.
Besides last week, the Warriors have displayed at times a very dominant defence alongside a lethal attacking structure that can break you open and score from anywhere on the field. They'll be looking to right the wrongs of Friday night's loss with a much-needed win to get their 2024 campaign back on track, focusing on getting the basics right, building some serious momentum, restoring some confidence and taking back a spot in the top eight. All this while the Titans will be desperately searching for their elusive first victory of 2024 season any way they can in front of a sold-out Mt Smart Stadium.
