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Warriors coach Nathan Brown thought the club’s 19-6 win over the Titans on Saturday night was one they earned.
It was a game that only came to life in the second half, with an attempt to recruit new Bayley Sironen being the only marker for the first 40 minutes.
However, throughout the game, the Warriors forwards dominated the game and got their reward for this with attempts from Leeson Ah-Mau in the 51st minute and Kodi Nikorima 17 minutes later.
Hopes that the Warriors would keep the Titans scoreless were dashed with seven minutes remaining when Corey Thompson landed a consolation attempt for the Titans.
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It wasn’t an exciting game and wingers Ken Maumalo and David Fusitu’a often had to come in to look for work, but it was a great way for Brown to begin his tenure as the Warriors coach.
Ashley Feder / Getty Images
Leeson Ah Mau missed most of last season with injury, but made his mark in the first game of the 2021 campaign.
“We certainly have earned it all,” Brown said.
“We had a lot of defense to do and we lost some players with blows to the head at the beginning of the second half (Wayde Egan and Bayley Sironen) and the guys kept sticking out.
“That was the key to our victory and we were very brave.
“I would like to think that throughout the year the other parts of the play combinations will improve on the court, but we played a fairly simple game and at the end of the day our effort and commitment on defense is what earned us the victory.”
The Warriors don’t look like the finished product, but this was just the first game of the season and with the attacking package they now have, it’s obvious Brown wants to make the most of his strength.
“We have new staff, new players, a lot of new combinations and some younger players in key positions, who haven’t played a lot of football together.” Brown said.
“So it was about us starting the year like we did and built it.”
Ashley Feder / Getty Images
Former warrior Patrick Herbert and his new Titans teammates struggled to break through the Warriors defense.
Four Warriors players made their club debut; Sironen, Addin Fonua-Blake, Euan Aitken, and Ben Murdoch-Masila.
Fonua-Blake was the standout, not just among these players, but among all of them.
He ran 202 meters, made five tackle stops and four volleys.
So Warriors fans should rub their hands in joy for what he will bring to the team.
“All of our new recruits were really good and Addin is a great quality player,” Brown said.
“Bayley came to us from the Souths and he has 20-something (25) games in his career and he was very good.
“Unfortunately we lost him for a while and Euan Aitken played with an injury. He stayed in the field when under normal circumstances, if we didn’t lose the guys we lost, we would have replaced him.
“Ben Murdoch-Masila was great too, in his first NRL game for five or six years.”
Having been fired by the Knights two years ago, this was a welcome return to the NRL for Brown and he clearly enjoyed being involved again.
“I wouldn’t do it again if I didn’t miss it,” he said.
“Last year, having the year off was good. I did a lot of different jobs and like a lot of people, when Covid started, I lost a lot of jobs.
“I did a lot of different things to get ahead and also spent time with my family, which was great.
“But I still like to train, like all the guys who train, we are lucky to have a job and there are not many.
“Although we have them, we certainly appreciate them.”
Meanwhile, Titans coach Justin Holbrook had no problem admitting that his team was beaten by a better team.
“We knew how the Warriors were going to play, but we have yet to stop them and we couldn’t do that,” Holbrook said.
“Whenever you are behind in those conditions, you try to do things with the ball and we couldn’t do it.
“We had a couple of chances, but outside of that it was a really difficult game and they played it better than us.”
TAKE A LOOK
Warriors 19 (Bayley Sironen, Leeson Ah Mau, Kodi Nikorima tries; Nikorima 3 goals, Chanel Harris-David field goal). Titans 6 (Attempt by Corey Thompson; goal by Jamal Fogarty). HT: 6-0
