Sixth straight loss for the Warriors
The Warriors have fallen to their sixth defeat in a row and biggest loss of the season, going down 36-16 to the Raiders at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.
There’s nothing remarkable in the Warriors losing as it’s happened in 14 of their 21 games this season and you have to go back to June 23 for their last victory.
But there was a different atmosphere among the small crowd of 10,182 for this game.
With the ownership of the Warriors in question following the news earlier in the day that Auckland businessman Paul Davys is looking to buy the club off Eric Watson, the result of this game became a secondary factor.
How much this revelation had on the Warriors players is unknown, but it must have been a talking point amongst them before this game began.
At the start though the Warriors did look up for this and they up for this and they came close to scoring in the fifth minute when they had an overlap on the right edge, however Blake Ayshford’s pass to David Fusitu’a was forward.
Within a minute there was another opportunity as a grubber went through in goal to Solomone Kata, but he was unable to ground the ball and injured his shoulder in the attempt.
As has been the case so often the season, the Warriors quickly paid the price for not making the most of chances, as straight away the Raiders broke down their left edge and Nick Cotric scored.
Kata’s injury meant there was an earlier than expected reprieve for Issac Luke, who slotted in at hooker and Nathaniel Roache moved to centre.
It didn’t have any impact in the game though as Jarrod Croker picked up the Raiders’ second try in Raiders 36 (2 Nick Cotric, Jarrod Croker, Blake Austin, Joey Leilua, Jordan Rapana tries; 5 Croker goals). Warriors 16 (David Fusitu’a, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Isaiah Papali’i tries; Mason Lino 3 goals). HT: 18-6
the 17th minute.
Nine minutes later the Warriors got themselves back in contention when Fusitu’a finished off a nice move down the left.
However, it was all too easy for Blake Austin to slide through the Warriors’ goal line defence seven minutes before the break and gave all the momentum back to the Raiders.
The Warriors had the better of play for the first 20 minutes of the second half and spent a fair amount of it hammering away close to the Raiders’ line.
For awhile the Raiders’ defence held strong but Roger TuivasaSheck snuck through a tiny gap in the 57th minute for the Warriors’ second try.
But for the second time, not long after the Warriors got themselves in the game they conceded a try, with the next one coming to centre Joey Leilua and at 14 points down with 18 minute to go, this game was looking out of reach for the Warriors.
That was confirmed as Kiwis winger Jordan Rapana and Cotric again scored late tries as a Warriors game came to a depressing end for their fans, even though Isaiah Papali’i’s try in the 78th minute did give the few remaining fans in the stadium something to cheer.
The week ahead promises to be another one where the Warriors are a main talking point, but thankfully for the players, who once again disappointed, it’s unlikely to be about them.