Warriors improve home playoff odds with win
The finals charge is on.
The Warriors consolidated their top eight place and improved their chances of a home playoff game with a solid 20-4 victory over Newcastle last night.
For long periods, it was efficient rather than eye catching, and they will need to lift considerably in the coming weeks and learn to put the foot on the throat. But overall, it was job done with a vital win against a tenacious Knights team that refused to buckle.
“It was a tough, gritty performance, based on our defence,” reflected Warriors coach Stephen Kearney. “They did it through a real persistence and they were pretty relentless with it.”
The Warriors also looked a little leg weary after an intense contest last Saturday in Wollongong.
This result, achieved in Issac Luke's 250th NRL game, stopped an unusually bad run at Mt Smart Stadium (four consecutive losses) and was their first win in Auckland for three months.
It was earned up front, with the Warriors pack gradually wearing down their opposites.
Bunty Afoa thrilled with his back fence charges, Adam Blair was brutally effective and Simon Mannering found plenty of space.
The big men were helped by the back three, who provided invaluable momentum, and were endorsed as the best back trio in the NRL by Knights half Mitchell Pearce. Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was again brilliant on his dancing feet, running for a staggering 338 metres.
“Kenny [Maumalo] and Fus [David Fusitu’a] have been outstanding, so it’s about time I did some work there,” said a modest Tuivasa-Sheck. “It's been about narrowing it down to a simple focus of getting myself right.”
Kearney's only criticism was the lack of a clinical touch in possession.
“Our attack was just tinkering on clicking and we’ve been a bit like that over the last month,” said Kearney. “It's some individual skill and detail and that's the focus for us. We haven't quite nailed the attack.”
The Warriors rode their luck at times and persisted with the tactic of short goal line dropouts, which paid dividends twice as they regained possession.
Ken Sio powered through four defenders to open the scoring in the 11th minute, as the Warriors seemed to get in each other's way.
It was an untidy first half-hour for the hosts. Passes were spilt, players were caught offside and a couple of kicks bounced just too long over the deadball line. The Warriors, in front of an expectant crowd, couldn't get rolling, as the Knights successfully slowed the play the ball. It's a pattern the Warriors will have to break in the coming weeks, as the intensity rises and standards lift.
As happened last week, the home side’s spark was provided by TuivasaSheck. The fullback mesmerised the defensive line with a sideways jinking run, creating space for sleight of hand from Shaun Johnson and Gerard Beale, which eventually saw Adam Blair dive over in the 28th minute. It was a move at high pace, the kind that delights the men with the clipboards.
If that was good, the second try was even better, as long balls from Blake Green and Johnson outflanked a swarming Newcastle defence to open the door for Fusitu'a. The Tongan winger, known for his acrobatics, displayed brute force to barge past three defenders to score.
Their momentum continued in the second half, when Green scythed his way over from 20 metres. The five-eighth isn't known for his running game but his teammates enjoyed his deception, engulfing him after he scored.
The Knights were unfortunate not to score through Aidan Guerra — who fumbled as he was forcing a Mitchell Pearce grubber — but otherwise were effectively subdued in the second half.
Warriors 20 (A. Blair, D. Fusitu'a, B. Green tries; S. Johnson 4 goals) Knights 4 (K. Sio try) Halftime: 12-4