By virtue of having more points on the board, NZ Warriors beat Wests Tigers to claim their first win of their 2022 NRL campaign at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday..
But the error-plagued, face-palm fest was a contest almost neither side deserved to take three points from, with coach Nathan Brown conceding his team had taken a clear step backwards from their previous performance in the 20-18 round-two loss to Gold Coast Titans.
But a win is a win, especially in the cauldron of the NRL, and the team showed plenty of fortitude in withstanding the repeated - if bungled - attempts by the Tigers to snatch a win in the dying stages, particularly when a player short to the sinbin.
"Last week we played far better and didn't get anything, and this week we played a lot worse but we got something," Brown said after the 16-12 win.
"We can't fault the boys' defence, in the second half especially, when we were down to 12 men and had a few troops with injuries.
"But we certainly came up with some disappointing plays in the game which was clear for everyone to see."
Brown pointed at more inconsistent displays from his players which he believes is one of the root causes of the team's inability to construct a complete 80-minute effort through the early stages of the season.
That was no better exemplified than by halves pairing Chanel Harris-Tavita and Kodi Nikorima, who both swung in opposite directions from their last outings.
"Kodi did pretty well, but other blokes in key positions were off their day…. Chanel had a bad day and last week he had a good, solid day," Brown notes.
"That's probably the thing that’s affecting us the most at the moment, that we can’t put a group of people together that are pretty solid.
"No one is looking for remarkable, but at the moment we’re getting some real fluctuation in performance.
"Unfortunately, we had other people this week that did a much better job last week and weren’t to the standard that we need, because it’s hard to carry people at the NRL level."
On a more positive note, Brown highlighted the play - particularly defensively - of star fullback Reece Walsh, as well as the tradesman efforts of forward Bayley Sironen.
"Reece (Walsh) is obviously a talented young player and everyone sees the try assists, but his work off the ball, in particular in the defensive part, was the best it's been since he’s been here," says Brown.
"I thought Bayley Sironen had his best game since he's been at the club and under difficult circumstances I thought we had some other blokes off their game."
The spine of Walsh, Nikorima, Harris-Tavita was the thirds used in as many games this season and but seems it will be the likely combination going forward, at least for the near future.
Brown confirms Ash Taylor is "struggling" with his hip injury, while Shaun Johnson - although progressing well - may still be a couple of weeks away from availability in his recovery from a pectoral strain.
"We're waiting on some results for Ash, but he's not looking likely in the short term at all," says Brown.
"We're not sure how Shaun is at the moment. He's tracking along good, he's a lot better than what he was.
"He's certainly not going to be far away."
The Warriors will need all of the firepower they can muster for next weekend's game against Brisbane Broncos.
