Warriors show steel in crucial win
The Warriors survived a second-half scare to put their NRL finals hopes back on track with a droughtbreaking 18-12 victory over St George Illawarra in Wollongong yesterday.
The visitors were cruising with an 18-0 halftime lead but their secondhalf woes continued with errors from right wing David Fusitu’a leading to two Dragons’ tries to bring the hosts back within six points midway through the third quarter.
The home side had plenty of chances to add to their score but poor execution and errors saw them squander attacking chances and the Warriors defence clung on for a crucial win.
The heart-stopping win was just their second at WIN Stadium since 1996 and comes after consecutive defeats to Melbourne and last week’s horror show on the Gold Coast.
The result consolidates their place in the top eight and restores the fourpoint gap separating them from the ninth-placed Wests Tigers.
With just four rounds remaining in the regular season, the Warriors will look to build some consistency with next Friday’s home game against Newcastle.
A Shaun Johnson penalty edged the Warriors in front at the end of the first quarter and two tries to centre Solomone Kata and one to hooker Issac Luke saw them in a comfortable position at the break.
All momentum was lost with Fusitu’a’s mistakes giving the Dragons impetus to score twice through hooker Cameron McInnes and interchange forward Luciano Leilua to make it 18-12 but that was as close as they came.
Led superbly by captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the visitors delivered on plans to simplify their play with strong contributions from their outside backs and a return to form from their hot-and-cold forward pack defining their strong first half effort.
The Warriors looked nervous on attack early on but did well to contain the Dragons formidable pack and defend penalties conceded while trying to slow the play the ball.
The tide began to turn with Johnson kicking their first points before Dragons fullback Matt Dufty was sinbinned for interfering with Tuivasa-Sheck as he chased a grubber to the ingoal.
The Warriors capitalised on their one man advantage with offloads creating their first two tries to Kata and Luke, before Tuivasa-Sheck produced one of his trademark trysavers when he stripped the ball as Dragons centre Tim Lafai dived for the line.
Their positive play continued to pay dividends with five-eighth Blake Green’s wide pass giving Kata room down the left side to run in his second to effectively seal the result just before the break.
McInnes injected life into the Dragons with a try from dummyhalf and things looked ominous when Leilua crossed with half an hour remaining, but fortune favoured the Warriors and cemented their slot in the NRL top eight.
Warriors 18 (S Kata 2, I Luke tries, S Johnson 1/1 cons, 1/1 pens) Dragons 12 (C McInnes, L Leilua tries, Gareth Widdop 2/2 cons). Ht: 18-0.