Warriors rue high error rate
Two tries from Canberra Raiders centre Joey Leilua sunk the Warriors in Canberra last night, ending their two-game winning streak.
The Raiders closed the game out as 20-8 victors after scoring 14 points in the second half while the Warriors never close to adding to their first-half tally.
While it was the first time the Warriors had lost with Kieran Foran in their side, it wasn’t a poor performance and probably said more abut the quality of the hosts. HT: 6-8
The Raiders posted 42 points against the Titans in their previous game, so there was no doubting their attacking capabilities, but for the second week in a row the Warriors showed they’re making improvements defensively regardless of the final score.
The attack, however, was an issue again, even after a bright start. Josh Hodgson stripped the ball off Foran a few metres from the Warriors’ line four minutes into the game, which put the defence under some early pressure.
But the Warriors withstood the attack and a couple of minutes later got on the board themselves as Ryan Hoffman brilliantly caught a bomb put up by Foran, beating Jack Wighton in the air to grab the try.
The Warriors kept the heat on the Raiders but couldn’t convert that into points and paid the price Joey Leilua brushed off a tackle from Ken Maumalo to score in the 20th minute.
Shaun Johnson kicked a penalty two minutes later and tried a few times later in the half to spark something on attack, to no avail.
However, it took an outstanding tackle from Jarrod Croker to hold up Roger Tuivasa-Sheck with three minutes left in the half after Johnson put the fullback into space.
In the 50th minute Crocker goaled a penalty for the Raiders to square the game up at 8-8 and eight minutes later the Raiders were in a great attacking position when Maumalo knocked on a high bomb. It meant the Raiders got to start at set on the Warriors’ 10m line and they made the most of it with Leilua scoring on the right edge, slipping inside a hole in the defence between Maumalo and Solomone Kata.
The Warriors were short on attacking opportunities in the second half and the mistake rate started to rise.
The killer blow came in the 65th minute when the Raiders’ English hooker Hodgson quickly took the ball from dummy half a couple of metres from the Warriors’ line and snuck in for a try.
To add to the Warriors’ woes there was the return of some ugly old habits around ball retention and that’s got to be the area of most concern for coach Stephen Kearney.
When they needed give them a lift over minutes of the game, anyone who stood counted.
So the Warriors remain winless away from Mt Smart Stadium this season and things won’t get any easier for them in their next fixture, an away trip to Melbourne in Anzac Day. someone to the final 20 there wasn’t up to be