Doggies down Warriors in Dunedin
Kearney frustrated by his side’s inability to make the most of good territory and possession
A rudderless Warriors attack failed to reap rewards as they were beaten by the Canterbury Bulldogs at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium last night.
The Warriors threatened an unlikely comeback when Shaun Johnson crossed for a converted try inside the final quarter but late tries to Bulldogs wings Marcelo Montoya and Brett Morris condemned them to their second defeat from three games.
The result ended a six- game losing streak for Canterbury, after back- toback losses to start the year extended a four- game losing run from last season, and eased the pressure on under- fire coach Des Hasler.
But the Warriors have numerous problems, particularly their lack of creativity and predominantly lateral attack that was too easily contained.
A week after losing to Melbourne at a rain- soaked Mt Smart Stadium, they again failed to flourish on a dry track at the enclosed venue, despite a wealth of attacking territory and possession.
They had seemingly endless chances to score and for the second week in a row, the Stephen Kearney coached side had trouble consistently executing effective last tackle plays.
Johnson was put under immense pressure from a swarming blue and white defence, and a missed tryscoring chance to Ken Maumalo and a penalty conceded by Solomone Kata after an ill- advised attempt at the line from dummy- half proved costly.
“The thing that I didn’t like was the way we fell away with our defence in that second half,” said Kearney.
“We had a fair bit of possession in the first and second half, and in good position, and didn’t capitalise at times, so we were really clunky.
“We had a fair bit of opportunity down there and, a bit like last week, Ken bobbled one over the line and others.
“I’ll have to have a good look at the tape and see what that looks like. But it just didn’t look cohesive.”
The Warriors again missed the attacking talents and relentless involvement of captain and fullback Roger Tuivasa- Sheck, who was ruled out midweek after failing to recover from a concussion.
The loss also came at an additional cost, with veteran wing Manu Vatuvei departing in the 53rd minute after reinjuring his left knee that kept him out of the side for the past fortnight.
The Warriors opened the scoring through back- rower Bodene Thompson but the Bulldogs fought their way into the match with tries to Moses Mbye and Morris giving them a 10- 6 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs dominated the second half and continually held out the Warriors before Johnson's late score offered false hope.
The gritty Bulldogs defence held firm and the Warriors submitted in the final 13 minutes to see the score blow out.
“That’s the journey we’re on as a footy club,” said Kearney. “That’s what the NRL is about. That’s the business. It is an arm wrestle and I just felt we didn’t respond well enough to it.”
The result leaves the Warriors under added pressure to snare a rare away win over St George- Illawarra at UOW Jubilee Oval in Sydney next Sunday. Warriors 12 ( Bodene Thompson, Shaun Johnson tries; Johnson 2 cons) Bulldogs 24 ( Moses Mbye, Brett Morris 2, Marcelo Montoya tries; Mbye 3 cons, 1 pen)