Warriors prop Tanner Stowers-Smith attributes NRL form surge to Erin Clark’s support – The Big League Podcast

Warriors prop Tanner Stowers-Smith has explained how the support of teammate Erin Clark has driven his NRL form surge.

The Christchurch local made his first start of the season in the weekend’s 10-8 loss to the Sharks at Mt Smart.

With co-captains Mitch Barnett and James Fisher-Harris out due to State of Origin and injury respectively, Stowers-Smith rose to the occasion with 137 running metres and 29 tackles.

In eight games this season, the 22-year-old has racked up 361.8 post-contact metres, 15 tackle breaks and has a 91.3% tackle efficiency.

Stowers-Smith told The Big League Podcast his teammates are a big reason for his consistent performances.

“I’m playing with a lot of confidence now, and that’s just instilled through me by the boys I have in front of me, especially Erin Clark.

“He’s a great player, and the work he does with me and the confidence he gives me to play my footy is amazing. He’s a really big driver for me to come out of my shell and to put my best footy on.

“I’ve got Fordy [Jackson Ford], Fish [Fisher-Harris] and Barney [Barnett] who I look up to a lot, and who drive me to live up to their standard each week.

“I’m loving footy at the moment, and those boys really put a big impact on how I’ve been playing this year.”

It was a game marred by controversy, with referee Gerrard Sutton awarding an early penalty to the Sharks for a Chanel Harris-Tavita time violation before a goal-line dropout.

Sutton told Harris-Tavita he had five seconds to make the kick, but the buzzer went off a couple of seconds later.

Sutton awarded the penalty anyway, causing Warriors coach Andrew Webster to label the incident “embarrassing” and “unprofessional” in the post-match press conference.

Later in the contest, Warriors halfback Te Maire Martin had a field goal attempt charged down minutes before Sharks five-eighth Braydon Trindall kicked the winner.

Warriors centre Adam Pompey had a chance to tie the match, but missed a penalty kick on the final play.

Stowers-Smith said the Sharks executed under pressure.

“Just big moments that changed the game, or they capitalised on.

“They came to play, and obviously had a really good game plan about how they were going to go about their footy. They dominated us in periods too.”

On the bright side, the Warriors debuted New South Wales Cup hooker Makaia Tafua, who Stowers-Smith praised highly.

“I thought he killed it. A really young squad, a lot of our big dogs out, but we never took that as any excuse and never had a different mindset. We all know whoever steps in the jersey can do a really good job.

“He [Webster] was proud, but it was just moments in the game where they took opportunities, and we need to get better.”

The Warriors will debut at Christchurch’s Te Kaha Stadium on Sunday when they host the North Queensland Cowboys.

Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.