Swing and a miss but Lisone looks on the bright side

It was a game on the line, not just coffee or lunch, but Sam Lisone can laugh about it now.

Just two minutes remained with scores tied in last Saturday’s NRL clash against Manly in Perth when the young Warriors prop found the ball in his hands on the last tackle.

The almighty air-swing that resulted as Lisone tried for a potentially game-winning field-goal didn’t seem funny at the time, or in the immediate aftermath of the 15-14 golden-point loss to the Sea Eagles.

But as he looked forward to today’s encounter with the Raiders in Canberra, Lisone was able to see the lighter side of his attempted heroics.

‘‘I don’t even know what I was thinking,’’ the 22-year-old Otahuhu junior said.

‘‘I was ready to run and chase the kick and then I got the ball. I looked and the guy next to me was Benny [Matulino] and I saw Manly jerseys rushing up so I panicked, but I guess it was pretty crack up.’’

With 33 first grade caps to his name, Lisone can’t recall ever taking a field-goal before last Saturday, not in a game anyway.

He and Matulino often ‘‘play little kicking games for coffee or lunch’’ before training, but the more junior of the propping duo jokes the grubber-kick is his specialty.

While ensuring everyone it would not happen again, Warriors coach Andrew Mcfadden was also able to eventually see the humour in the moment from a second extra-time defeat in three weeks.

What had helped the wounds heal quicker, Lisone said, was what the team had done not just in that game, but over the past two months in collecting four wins to climb into the top eight.

‘‘In the past we couldn’t go toe-to-toe with a team,’’ said the Warriors most effective tackler in 2015.

‘‘We’d get behind, get blown away and couldn’t come back, but the team is showing a lot of strength and resilience.

‘‘In the last seven weeks or so we’ve been really competing well. We’ve only lost two games and they were by golden-point. It shows we’re not just turning over and letting teams run over us.’’

A big performance will be needed to once again prevent that against a Canberra outfit that muscled their way to a 38-12 demolition of the Warriors in round 12.

The red-hot Raiders have won five of their last six, capped by a 26-12 victory over the defending champion Cowboys last weekend.

Powering that charge up the ladder has been an impressive pack, one that Lisone admits is much bigger than the Aucklandbased franchise. With the return of State of Origin bopper Jacob Lillyman, though, the visitors hope to claw back some of that advantage.

And as far as Lisone is concerned, size is certainly not the only factor that matters. ‘‘We’re not a big pack,’’ he said.

‘‘It is still inside me what they did to us last time. They walked all over us so this week we are going over there to get one back. We’ll be going out there and competing hard.’’