Warriors rip apart Roosters

It may be April Fools Day today but it’s no joke that the Warriors are on top of the NRL ladder.

The undefeated club produced one of its best performances in years to embarrass the Roosters 30-6 in Sydney for their fourth win of the season.

The Warriors got out of jail in their 20-19 win over the Raiders last weekend, but this victory was far more emphatic and impressive. Never mind making it into the top eight, this was Premiershipwinning form against an opposition plenty of pundits were predicting a grand final win for.

What made this victory all the more incredible was that Shaun Johnson was scratched from the game with a hamstring injury, while props James Gavet and Sam Lisone were also missing.

The Warriors had lost their last 11 games when Johnson didn’t play and lost all eight games previously when Mason Lino started.

But Lino was outstanding while Blake Green took the role of being the main creator and put in a superb kicking display.

The Warriors, who were forced to play in their heritage jerseys, because of the theft of their playing kit and equipment last week, are on a roll and there’s no signs of when it will stop.

However, after just two minutes this looked liked it could be a bad night for them, with Latrell Mitchell going through a gap when attacking on the Roosters’ left edge.

But in the 11th minute, Tohu Harris delivered a wonderful offload to Lino, to complete an attack and give the Warriors a try. Lino’s conversion put the Warriors in front 6-4.

Seven minutes later Leivaha Pulu scored the next Warriors try, with Adam Blair having a big role in the setup.

These tries knocked the confidence out of the Roosters and even experienced players like Jake Friend started making mistakes.

Then 15 minutes before the break Solomone Kata crashed over for another Warriors try. He took the ball off Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, but still needed all his strength to barge past three defenders.

Five penalties were conceded by the Warriors late in the half close to their line, with the Warriors showing incredible efforts in defence and in the end the Roosters had to settle for a kick for two points.

That was a moral victory for the Warriors. They were close to getting a player binned, but their determination to keep the Roosters out was done with a spirit not seen by the club’s players for years.

The Warriors’ goal line defence stood up to more pressure early in the second half and not only did they get out of trouble, but Blake Green kicked a 40/20 in the 48th minute.

Victor Radley was put on report for putting his shoulder into the head of Ligi Sao in the 52nd minute and from that Lino kicked another two points for a 20-6 lead.

On the hour mark the game was as good as over, with David Fusitu’a leaping above the crowd to catch Lino’s bomb and score the Warriors’ next try.

Lino kicked two more penalties to stretch the lead and confirm this as one of the club’s most memorable victories.

(Mason Lino, Leivaha Pulu, Solomone David Fusitu’a tries; Mason Lino (Latrell Mitchell try; HT: 18-6.

Kata, 7 goals) Latrell Mitchell

goal).