TWL Rd 2: Kingz Container Crew Warriors Player Ratings

A pleasure to give this bunch of studs a mark out of 10 after a demolition of the Raiders.

The Warriors are 2-0 for just the second time in 17 seasons — and there was a plethora of Kingz Container Crew standouts in their 40-6 rout of visiting Canberra.

1 CHARNZE NICOLL-KLOKSTAD: Shoehorned into five-eighth after nine minutes and did a difficult job well in the conditions, following some strong early plays at fullback. Finished with nine runs for 92 metres and 21 tackles before an HIA ended his night 12 minutes early. 6.5

2 DALLIN WATENE-ZELEZNIAK: Set the tone for a great night with an outstanding finish for the Warriors’ opening try. One blunder near his goal-line thankfully went unpunished, while it was an otherwise impressive night under the high ball in the wet with several tremendous catches under pressure — and another that netted his second try. Twelve runs for 107 metres with five tackle-breaks. 8

3 ALI LEIATAUA: Still a few shaky moments on defence but nothing disastrous, while he did some good things without the ball. A brilliant intercept try made up a big chunk of his 115 metres from seven runs, kick-started a second-half landslide and could be the precursor to belatedly cementing the right centre spot. Also got the assist for DWZ’s try and made a game-high eight tackle-breaks. 6.5

4 ADAM POMPEY: A relatively quiet and uneventful night on the left edge, with nine runs for 74 metres and 14 tackles. 5.5

5 ROGER TUIVASA-SHECK: A big night on the whole for the 150-game milestone man. Was an invaluable workhorse with a game-high 212 metres on 22 carries, with only a couple of difficult drops on attack against his name. Nice conversion too! 7.5

6 CHANEL HARRIS-TAVITA: Said nye nyes after just nine minutes and will miss next week with his category one concussion. 3

7 TANAH BOYD: Another charmed night for the stand-in (or is he?) halfback, terrorising the Raiders with his kicking game — long (including a massive 40/20), short (including a try assist) and high (including a try assist) — and scoring a try for the second week in a row. Ball-playing was great in the conditions, took the line on and made 21 tackles. Has raised genuine questions around what the best halves duo is to take the Warriors forward when everyone is available. 8.5

8 JAMES FISHER-HARRIS: Another outstanding captain’s knock to lead his pack to a big points win over Joe Tapine and co. A huge contribution of 18 runs for 152 metres and 35 tackles in an hour on the park. 8

9 WAYDE EGAN: Classy around the rucks in challenging weather and racked up 30 tackles, while he had a 12-minute stint in the halves to close out the game. 7

10 JACKSON FORD: Another colossal performance from our resident Robocop. Played all but a few minutes, led the forwards with 154 metres from 16 carries (including six tackle-breaks), topped the tackle count with 37 and stormed over for a back-breaking try. At what point do we start talking about him as a NSW Origin contender when the Blues are happy to give out front-row guernseys to the likes of Max King? 8.5

12 JACOB LABAN: An improvement on last week with 10 runs for 88 metres and some big defensive plays among an equal-team-high 37 tackles. 7

16 LEKA HALASIMA: Pitched into the starting line-up after Capewell’s warm-up snafu and played the full 80 minutes. Made a compelling case for a permanent run-on role with a sensational second-half double — pouncing on a grubber for the first and getting rid of four defenders for his brace — and racking up 14 runs for 119 metres with six tackle-breaks and 35 tackles. A freak. 8

13 ERIN CLARK: Fairly understated first stint, but produced two try assists in his second — one with a deft short ball, the other with a dinky reflex kick — and ended up with 12 runs for 113 metres and 24 tackles. 7.5

18 TAINE TUAUPIKI: Got an unexpected run and absolutely made the most of it. His 72-minute appearance at fullback included a key hand in the Warriors’ first try, ran for 210 metres on 22 carries with six tackle-breaks, and some nice clean-up work and brave defence at the back. Likely to get the No.1 jersey next week with CHT out. 8

15 DEMITRIC VAIMAUGA: More prominent than last week with 11 runs for 102 metres and 14 tackles in 37 minutes. Such a bruiser. 7

17 TANNER STOWERS-SMITH: Got through a ton of high-quality work in 35 minutes, churning through 13 runs for 119 metres and 19 tackles. Still can’t get my head around the fact TSS is likely to be bumped out of the 17 when Mitch Barnett returns. 7

14 SAM HEALEY: His chances of getting a run at all nosedived when CHT exited early and Tuaupiki was injected, but the hot start to the second half ultimately saw Healey play the last 27 minutes at dummy-half. Always looking to poke his nose through and had seven runs for 76 metres. 6.5