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Sport Nation
'Head scratcher': Webster's selections under-fire after Warriors' absymal outing against Bulldogs
Sport Nation • August 11th, 2025 11:56 am
Andrew Webster | Photo: Photosport
The volume of the alarm bells ringing across Wahs Nation has reached a new level of decibels after one of the most listless performances of their campaign to date.
On Saturday, the Warriors slumped to their third consecutive defeat in a one-sided 32-14 drubbing from the Bulldogs at a sodden Accor Stadium, consolidating their slip out of the NRL's all-important top four.
One of the most biggest points of contention to wash up in this round's post-mortem were a couple of curious selections from coach Andrew Webster, namely his late adjustment to start Te Maire Martin in the halves at the expense of Tanah Boyd and the promotion of Freddy Lussick to starting hooker ahead of rising revelation Sam Healey.
Among those baffled by both decisions was Sport Nation host Israel Dagg, who suggested Webster was scrambling for solutions as the stakes have ramped up for the slumping Warriors.
"When you're under so much pressure and you're a coach that has brought so much enthusiasm and hope back to an organisation that the entire country wants to see win, you could go searching and start searching for magical formulas and magical combinations…trying to put pieces of the puzzle into a place that probably don't fit," said Dagg on Sport Nation's Scotty & Izzy.
The deluge of rain in Sydney increased the importance of tactical kicking, an area considered one of Boyd's primary strengths.
In Martin, Dagg believes they got the wrong horse of the course, which was only exacerbated when he was forced from the field in the opening stages after failing a head injury assessment.
"I thought that was quite interesting, particularly all week, knowing the weather that was taking place in Sydney.
"Tanah probably hasn't shown enough with ball in hand, but the biggest thing that he offers out there is the kick. And you saw from the Bulldogs' Matt Burton the importance of having a kick to be able to relieve the pressure.
"They missed a beat with Boyd not there. Kicking wise, you know that threat that he offers to be able to put the ball high and on a dime."
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Perhaps more contentious was Webster turning to Lussick as run-on hooker in the absence of incumbent Wayde Egan, who's part of a jam-packed injury ward at Mt Smart.
The young Australian has been outstanding in his few opportunities this season, but was reduced to a late impact role against Canterbury.
Magnifying the selection question marks was the immediate impact made when Healey did eventually take the field, conjuring a piece of individual brilliance to score the Warriors' opening try - albeit with the contest already comfortably outside the visitors' reach.
"(Lussick) is very safe, but he's no Sam Healey," Dagg added.
"You saw what Sam Healey was able to do when he came on the park.His ability to get out of dummy half, create a bit of pressure, his width on the pass, to be able to play an expensive style of game."
In fact, Dagg is so enamoured by Healey's talents - he's prepared to rank him above Egan in the Warriors' pecking order at hooker.
"I'll say this right now, I think he offers a little bit more than Wayde Egan - particularly out of the ruck.
Sam Healey | Photo: Photosport
"His width on the pass, his speed out of dummy half. You watch his first run when he came on the field, he gets about 20 metres, he puts the Bulldogs on the back fence. Then he comes out and creates something out of nothing with a grubber kick and scores.
"I'm just a bit puzzled about the selections from Webby and the Warriors team at the moment."
One on the other side of the field, the defensive stats were damning - with the Warriors missing a mammoth 44 tackles compared to just 14 from the hosts.
The difference in the intensity and urgency from both sets of defences was glaring, Dagg noted.
"That line speed from the Bulldogs was outstanding.
"You flip the script and you look at the way that the Bulldogs scored and put a lot of pressure on the Warriors. They were able to get the ball wide and score some unbelievable tries on the edge in wet conditions.
"We're still lacking from a line speed point of view. There's something just not quite clicking defensively."
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