Wests Tigers Warriors
Woods but the Warriors still enjoyed an 18-12 halftime advantage.
However, a simple missed tackle from a scrum saw Tigers wing Josh Addo-Carr run in a long-range try to bring the visitors level 13 minutes into the second half.
Some backline brilliance saw Johnson send utility Tui Lolohea in to break the deadlock before the Kiwis playmaker was denied his own individual effort.
The Tigers could smell blood and seized the momentum of a inspired Luke Brooks 40/20 kick with Sue getting his second, and five-eighth Mitchell Moses and centre Naiqama capped the scoring inside the last 10 minutes.
McFadden appeared to read the minds of frustrated Warriors fans when he was unable to explain his side’s tendency to self-harm.
“We were just way too loose tonight and you’d think we wouldn’t talk about it but we do and it’s just not good enough at this level,” he said. “We just threw it away. Just too many errors and we gave away soft points.”
Their mid-season revival through a promising nine-week run which earned six wins and three golden point defeats now seems a distant memory and they have only pride to play for in next Sunday’s final round clash against Parramatta at Mt Smart.
A fourth-straight loss on Father’s Day would leave McFadden’s future at the club hanging on a knife-edge.
McFadden was unwilling to reflect on his side’s rollercoaster form through a tumultuous season.
“I’m not going to talk about that now. It’s too raw. It’s shattering because we got the chance last night and we threw it away today.”
(Sauaso Sue 2, Aaron Woods, Josh Addo-Carr, Mitchell Moses, Kevin Naiqama tries; Jordan Rankin 6 goals)
(Bodene Thompson, Solomone Kata, Simon Mannering, Tui Lolohea tries; Issac Luke 3 goals, Ata Hingano goal).
Wests Tigers 36 Warriors 24