Warriors lose in golden thriller
THE Warriors have suffered their third golden point loss in four games, going down 26-22 to the Raiders in Canberra last night.
The Raiders looked to have the game in the bag when leading 22-4 with 10 minutes to go, but a brace of tries from Thomas Leuluai and one from David Fusitu’a in the last play of the second half sent the game to golden point.
But once more, as was the case against the Sharks and Sea Eagles, the Warriors came out the losers, although unlike in those games they never got a chance to score, with Jarrod Croker bringing up his hat-trick in the 82nd minute.
With two straight defeats, it’s too early to say the Warriors are having another end-of-season slump, but it certainly could be said that they’ve lost the momentum built up over the Origin period.
The run in for the Warriors isn’t too tough from here, with four of their remaining six games to be played at Mt Smart Stadium and, apart from the away trip to the Cowboys, all the other fixtures should be winnable.
In the 12th minute the Warriors thought Fusitu’a had scored but the try was ruled out due to Bunty Afoa taking out Aidan Sezer in the buildup to create the opening.
Warriors prop Jacob Lillyman dropped the ball a couple of metres from the Raiders’ line in the 15th minute, but a minute later Vatuvei went in for his 150th NRL try.
The veteran wing juggled the ball after taking a pass that went behind his back from Fusitu’a, then managed to grab and quickly ground the ball.
It was a moment of great skill from Vatuvei but the sole try was scant reward for dominating the first half.
That’s because three minutes before the break the Raiders scored with Aidan Sezer putting through a cross-field grubber and Croker beating a flat-footed defence to the ball. Croker nailed the conversion to give them a 6-4 lead and they hit the Warriors again before halftime with Joseph Tapine brushing off three tackles to score.
No doubt Warriors coach Andrew McFadden ripped into his players at the break for conceding two tries just before halftime, but there wasn’t an immediate response and it was Croker who got the next try, receiving a ball from a Josh Papalii offload, then benefiting from a two on one against Fusitu’a.
With 13 minutes to go, Joseph Leilua ran through a hole left in the Warriors’ defence by Ryan Hoffman for the next try.
Game over? Not quite, as Leuluai scored tries in the 70th and 72nd minutes.
With one minute left, Fusitu’a scored a stunning acrobatic try in the corner, then Issac Luke landed the difficult conversion.
But the Warriors never got a look in as Leilua made a big break and then Croker scored in the corner.
Raiders 26 (Jarrod Croker 3, Joseph Tapine, Joseph Leilua tries; Jarrod Croker 3 goals). Warriors 22 (Manu Vatuvei, Thomas Leuluai, David 2 tries; Issac Luke 2 goals). HT: 12-4