NRL: NZ Warriors turn around close-game heartbreak in 'best-ever' start
Kurt Capewell and Sam Healey celebrate the Warriors win over North Queensland Cowboys.
Photo:
NRL Photos/Photosport
Warriors v Dragons
Kickoff 7.30pm Saturday, 10 May
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
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Much has been made of NZ Warriors equalling their best-ever start to an NRL season, with
victory over North Queensland Cowboys last weekend
securing a 6-2 record (plus a bye) through the opening nine rounds.
The claim is a tenuous one, to be sure. That run matches the 2018 outfit, coached by Stephen Kearney and captained by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, that began with five straight wins, before dropping a couple.
Their success compares with the 2002 Grand Final side, that also started 6-2, but then added another five consecutive wins on their way to the minor premiership.
Clearly, this current crop still have a ways to go before they can claim this particular piece of history outright - if they were even slightly interested in doing so.
"We haven't even spoken about that," co-captain Mitch Barnett told media. "It's pretty cool, but that's for you guys to write about.
"We're not getting ahead of ourselves. I know we're winning - and just winning - but we've got a long way to go if we want to be contenders.
"We're not silly, we know that, but that challenge excites us."
Perhaps a more meaningful statistic lies in the nature of that winning.
After falling one step short of a Grand Final in 2023, last year's Warriors just could not find a way to close out close games.
At this stage of the season, they had already suffered five losses - four of them were within a converted try, plus an extra-time draw with Manly Sea Eagles.
By the end of their 9-14-1 campaign, half their losses were by six points or less. Turning three of those defeats into wins would have put them back in the playoffs.
This year's third-placed Warriors are winning ugly at times, but they are 3-0 in tight finishes, with a late penalty grabbing victory against Wests Tigers, a Golden Point penalty against Brisbane Broncos and a desperate defensive stand against the fast-finishing Cowboys.
"Honestly, probably the missing thing from that formula is how tight the boys are," coach Andrew Webster explained.
"I'm not saying we weren't close last year, but there's definitely a different level of care for each other and wanting to have each other's backs.
"We're certainly not perfect at the moment. I actually think we're probably not playing as good as we were at times last year, when we were probably more clinical, but this year, we've got way more fight and way more togetherness."
Ironically, the common ingredient in all those close wins so far
has been halfback Luke Metcalf
, who has transformed from controversial successor to Shaun Johnson's No.7 jersey to Dally M Medal contender.
He slotted the crucial penalties against the Tigers and Broncos, and made the despairing tackle that deprived the Cowboys a possible go-ahead converted try.
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