MAGIC JOHNSON sparks turnaround against Broncos
The Warriors have stopped the rot. The Auckland club beat the Broncos 28-10 last night at Mt Smart Stadium, after a miserable two weeks where the team almost hit rock bottom.
It doesn’t mean the Warriors are suddenly NRL contenders — they still have much to prove — but it is a step out of a large hole their season was beginning to fall into.
This result kept up their impressive form at Mt Smart (5-1) this season and maintains their slim hopes of making the playoffs.
Playing behind a dominant forward pack, led by the relentless James Gavet, Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran controlled the game superbly, while Simon Mannering added much needed impetus on attack and defence.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks but they came out and had a real purpose about them and stuck to it,” said Warriors coach Stephen Kearney. “When you put physical pressure on a team, it creates opportunities.”
However, this win against a depleted Brisbane team missing six Origin players needs to be kept in perspective. They still had quality across the park but were definitely an easier proposition. But the Warriors also brought physicality with and without the ball and it also felt like Kearney let his team off the leash last night.
“We went out and just played,” said Warriors captain Roger TuivasaSheck. “[In] last week’s game against the Dragons, the boys were a bit tight just because of what happened in Penrith, we didn’t want to make mistakes. But [last night], it was a great team effort. Everyone turned up and just played.”
There was a moment towards the end of the first half when the team, for one of the few times this year, actually looked like the Warriors.
David Fusitu’a broke through the centre of the field, before instinctively offloading to Ken Maumalo. The wing also passed after contact, flicking a ball that Tuivasa-Sheck scooped up off his bootlaces. Playing in their retro 1995 strip, it was a moment that epitomised what the Warriors were meant to become, playing with natural flair.
Of course, it all flows from confidence, and the hosts seemed to be in sync last night. And, after a strangely flat fortnight, the desire was back. The Warriors showed more fire in the first 20 minutes than in the whole of last week’s miserable effort in Hamilton.
Sometimes it was still too lateral, as they were too keen to go east-west when heading north was the best option, especially early in the tackle count, but at least there was intent.
Gavet flattened one Broncos defender, while Ben Matulino evoked with one hit memories of the days when the shoulder charge was legal.
The Warriors opened the scoring, with Blake Ayshford crossing off a delayed short pass from Johnson in the 11th minute.
The halfback extended the Warriors’ lead seven minutes later, beating three defenders close to the ruck after hitting an Issac Luke pass at pace. Tuivasa-Sheck then put the seal on a dominant first half, forcing down between the posts off a pinpoint Johnson grubber.
An early second-half Maumalo try after a Luke break continued the momentum, and there was never any chance of blowing their large lead, though a James Roberts double made the home crowd edgy before Gavet’s late try.
Warriors 28 (B. Ayshford, S. Johnson, R. Tuivasa-Sheck, K. Maumalo, J. Gavet tries; Johnson 4 goals) Broncos 10 (J. Roberts 2 tries; J. Kahu goal). Halftime: 16-0.