Opinion and analysis; how James Fisher Harris fixed big Warriors problem, Sam Walker struggles, Jock Madden’s moment after Australian schoolboys career, Paul Crawley

The last time the Warriors won the minor premiership was back in 2002 when they were beaten by the Roosters in the grand final.

Here we are, 24 years on, can they go one better?

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With the Warriors now on top of the ladder after overtaking the Roosters and the Panthers, the stage is well and truly set for the Warriors to make NRL history.

But regardless of what happens from here, what should not be up for debate any longer is who deserves the Dally M coach and captain of the year awards.

Andrew Webster is the standout for coach of the year.

The same goes for James Fisher-Harris as captain.

Justin Holbrook, Ivan Cleary, Kristian Woolf and Trent Robinson have all produced tremendous coaching performances this season.

Likewise James Tedesco, Nathan Cleary and Kalyn Ponga have led their teams superbly.

But no coach/captain has overcome the adversity Webster and Fisher-Harris have while still driving their team to the top of the ladder.

When Fisher-Harris signed with the Warriors, everyone knew he would bring toughness and leadership as a four-time premiership winner.

But did we really think the now 30-year-old would also be playing what is arguably the best individual form of his decorated career?

And on the back of the standards he sets, it has helped change the culture of a club that for too long struggled to produce the consistency required to compete at the top level week after week.

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Which has always been the great frustration with the Warriors.

At their best they could always beat anyone.

The challenge was backing it up.

Yet the Warriors have also lost Tanah Boyd, Te Maire Martin and Luke Metcalf, leaving Chanel Harris-Tavita as their fourth-choice halfback.

Jackson Ford was in the Dally M Medal conversation before injury struck.

The great Roger Tuivasa-Sheck another gone for the season.

Now Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has a busted collarbone.

Plenty of teams would have buckled under the mounting toll.

Instead, every time someone goes down, another steps up.

Harris-Tavita’s story sums it up perfectly.

A few years back this bloke walked away from rugby league and went travelling because he no longer wanted what came with being a professional footballer.

Now he is not only holding down his spot, but running the show.

If Webster claims the Dally M award, it would make him a two-time winner after also taking the honour in 2023, his first season as head coach.

Webster never played at the top level but has spent two decades refining his craft.

It’s just more proof the champion players don’t always make the best coaches.

JUST WHEN WE ALL THOUGHT THE TIGERS HAD GIVEN UP

After such a rotten year for Tigers fans, the heart-stopping win over the Roosters makes all the pain at least somewhat bearable.

They had lost eight straight coming into this game.

Adam Doueihi was out.

Most people were expecting a cricket score against the team who went into the round on top of the ladder and had won their last eight, including beating Penrith the previous week.

Instead, the Tigers went toe-to-toe with the NRL’s glamour club and knocked the Roosters off their perch in the final minute.

And how good was it that the knockout blow came from little Jock Madden.

The battler from the Hunter Valley town of Scone who has had to scrap for every opportunity in the NRL.

Back in 2018 Madden actually played Australian Schoolboys in a team that included Stephen Crichton, Bradman Best and Tom Dearden.

But while Crichton and Best have gone on to represent at Origin and Test level, this would have been the biggest moment of Madden’s career so far.

But when his moment arrived on Sunday, he absolutely nailed it with the sweetest field goal you’ll ever see.

No wonder Benji rated it as his proudest moment as a coach.

It was bloody terrific watching it unfold, you can only imagine how good the Tigers players and their long suffering fans would have been feeling.

WALKER CAN’T CONTINUE TO GO MIA

As for the Roosters, they looked like they’d turned up expecting to go through the motions.

Instead, it might be the wake up call they needed.

And without pinning it all on the halves, it only puts more heat on Sam Walker amid his contract standoff.

This week he now goes head-to-head with the brilliant Isaya Katoa when the Roosters take on the Dolphins.

After the way Walker and Daly Cherry-Evans played against the Panthers, their performance against the Tigers was a huge letdown.

And it’s been a bit of a habit all season for Walker who can be brilliant one week, but goes MIA the next.

While the Dolphins haven’t been at their absolute best in recent weeks, the 34-16 win over the Eels was their fifth on the trot.

At the moment most seem to think the premiership winner will come from the top three teams, the Warriors, Panthers and Roosters.

But it would be a huge boost ahead of the finals if the Dolphins can bring down a rival top four team.

A BATTLE OF THE FREAKS

I also can wait to see Herbie Farnworth and Selwyn Cobbo go up against Robert Toia and Mark Nawaqanitawase.

Talk about a battle of the freaks.

Look at Farnworth’s number against the Eels with 20 runs for 255m including two tries, eight tackle busts, four offloads and two line break assists.

Cobbo is also putting together his best season.

Then you have Marky Mark and Toia who had some brilliant moments despite the loss to the Tigers.

But the Roosters just need to find a way to get them more ball.

At 22, Toia is arguably the best young centre in the game, while Nawaqanitawase just has that ability to do something completely out of the box every time he touches the ball.

That try he set up for Walker in the dying stages was just an amazing show of power, athleticism and skill.

TURBO’S BACK … AND SO IS FOZBALL

Just when people like me started to question if Manly needs to think about having a tough conversation with Tom Trbojevic, Turbo’s return inspired a shock win over the Knights on Old Boys Day in Newcastle.

It just again showed what a great player he still is when he gets on the field.

Manly went into this game on a seven-match losing streak and were down 18-6.

But Turbo was just so good it was hard to believe he was playing his first game back from injury.

It’s just a shame the Sea Eagles lost Tolu Koula courtesy of a hip drop off Dominic Young.

Turbo was also lucky he didn’t get cruelled after copping one off Tyson Frizell.

Both Knights now only face a one-match ban.

They should be thanking their lucky stars they got off that lightly, especially Young.

WHY RYLES’ BUNKER BLOW UP WAS ON THE MONEY

It’s a dead-set lottery what constitutes a try and no try when it comes to these fingertip put downs.

Over the course of the weekend we had three separate decisions that again left fans scratching their heads.

Jamayne Isaako gets given a try.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak gets a try.

But Mark Nawaqanitawase’s is no try.

I’ve watched the lot of them multiple times and I still can’t work out how any of them got awarded.

No wonder so many fans are blowing up.

I’d hate to see one of these decide the grand final.

But I reckon it’s a safe bet we’ll be talking up similar incidents throughout the finals.

As Jason Ryles said after the Eels loss to the Dolphins, “that Bunker’s got more technology than they had getting to the moon, and they still stuff it up”.

But maybe that’s the problem.

Maybe it’s time to start watching the replays at full speed and forget about breaking it down to super slow motion.

Even what they call a bobble when players are competing for bombs just does my head in.

Why can’t we run them all at normal speed and make the call on that?

The overuse of the Bunker only frustrates the fans and slows the game down.

BENNETT’S BIG CALL AHEAD OF LATRELL RETURN

With Latrell Mitchell expected to return for Souths against the Titans, Wayne Bennett has a big decision to make whether to stick with Matt Dufty at fullback or bring back Jye Gray.

No question Dufty’s been great for the Rabbitohs since taking over the No 1 jumper.

But a couple of mistakes early in the game against the Warriors put Souths on the back foot and they just never recovered.

Souths also failed to even attempt to catch that bomb late with Jayden Sullivan and Dufty just standing there looking at it.

Do you reckon the ball of energy that is Gray would have stood there and not at least had a crack at catching it?

And while he might not have Dufty’s skillset, his energy is just infectious.

Some of their senior players also need to take a good look in the mirror and just stop making so many silly mistakes, or lazy defensive efforts.

It’s been the story of their season and it just goes on and on.

A week earlier they played tremendous against the Bulldogs and looked to have secured their top eight spot.

While they still have their finals destiny in their own hands, they need to beat the Titans to confirm their place.

After watching the Titans rally against the Sharks, I’m not convinced that is as easy said as done.

Souths certainly wouldn’t want to wait until they take on the Chooks in the last round to get it done.

WAS IT THE GREATEST TOUCHDOWN IN RUGBY LEAGUE HISTORY?

Who said diving wasn’t a good look for rugby league?

How Sione Katoa latched onto a superb two-man cutout ball from Nicho Hynes at speed to then do a somersault over the top of a flying Phillip Sami to touch down in the Sharks’ 30-22 win over the Titans was just remarkable.

An Olympic gymnast would have been proud of that effort.

Seriously, for all the phenomenal tries we’ve seen from modern day wingers in recent years, I reckon that now goes down as the greatest try finish the game has ever seen.

While it wasn’t exactly a win that says the Sharks are now a legitimate premiership threat, it still would have been a welcome relief for Craig Fitzgibbon coming off back-to-back losses.

To make the top four they still need to win both their final games of the regular season against the Eels and Storm and prey the Dolphins drop one against either the Roosters or Titans.

The Sharks have a 35-point for and against advantage over the Dolphins.

WALTERS BRONCOS’ UNSUGN HERO

When you talk about the most underrated players in the NRL, Billy Walters is right up there.

It was a terrific match-up against Raiders young gun Owen Pattie who was also fantastic in this one.

And while you had to feel for Josh Papalii after the Raiders slaughtered a 14-point lead in big Papa’s last home game, the Broncos deserved their victory.

It was also good to see Ben Hunt have a good game and Hayze Perham had some terrific moments at fullback with and without the ball.

GALVIN TAKES OWNERSHIP OF DOGS

An interesting takeaway from the Bulldogs’ 44-14 win over the Dragons was how Lachlan Galvin this week took charge of the kicking game.

After playing second fiddle to Stephen Crichton in that department in recent weeks, Galvin had 19 kicks against the Dragons compared to Crichton’s three.

To put that in perspective, in the previous week’s loss to Souths, Crichton had 11 kicks to Galvin’s 10.

Against the Roosters it was Crichton 11 to Galvin six.

Whether that was simply a tactical shift for the Dragons or something more permanent, we’ll see when they take on the Panthers.

But it certainly looked like Galvin had been handed the keys.

OMINOUS WARNING FOR PANTHERS

The way the Dogs dismantled the Dragons’ left edge would have been a warning for Ivan Cleary given how the Panthers were picked apart back in round six.

That was the night Galvin came of age, combining brilliantly with Jacob Preston to terrorise Blaize Talagi and Casey McLean.

Now the Panthers have to deal with the suspension of Jack Cogger which leaves Cleary with a massive call to make in respect to either bringing back Talagi or Jack Cole.

Throw in that Matt Burton also had a huge game after shifting to right centre, scoring two tries and running for 131m.

It just makes the decision about who plays five-eighth even more crucial.