Nearly men Warriors fall just short
Hope. Despair. Hope. Heartbreak. The Warriors are becoming the nearly men of the competition, and you wonder how much more psychological pain this team can endure.
The 26-22 defeat to Canberra yesterday was their third golden point loss in the space of four matches, a staggering statistic that has surely never occurred before in the NRL.
And what a way to lose. Last week was bad enough, falling to a brave but limited Manly side after dominating most of the match.
The defeat at Shark Park in round 16 was also tough, as they were so close to ending Cronulla’s unbeaten run but for a couple of Jonathan Wright errors.
But this one is the kind that rips into your heart and twists it around, like that infamous scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Trailing 22-4, the Warriors staged the comeback of the season, scoring three tries in nine minutes through a Thomas Leuluai brace and a spectacular David Fusitua effort, who somehow got the ball down in the corner. Issac Luke then had a conversion from the sideline to force golden point — and nailed it.
Cue delirious joy, which evaporated in the space of six tackles in the extra-time period as Jarrod Croker finished a length-of-the-field move to complete his hat-trick and send the Raiders into the top four.
“I seriously did think when Bully [Luke] kicked that goal from the sideline that there was no chance of us getting beaten, but we did,” lamented Blake Ayshford.
“[To go] two weeks in a row to golden point and not come away with a win, it hurts, it hurts a lot, especially at this stage of the season.”
It’s hard to assess this match, but it encapsulated everything about the Warriors’ season in the space of 83 frantic minutes. There were long periods of pressure in the first half, as they forced the Raiders into numerous errors, but they couldn’t convert that into points, aside from Manu Vatuvei’s impressive juggling touchdown to bring up his 150th NRL try.
Canberra’s defence was impressive but the Warriors didn’t help themselves. Too much of their play was behind the advantage line as they were happy to sling the ball sideways and try to engineer a gap.
When they did make inroads, they often took the wrong option, letting Canberra off the hook — kicking when they should run or throwing a cutout ball despite a numbers advantage.
Their spells inside the opposition 20m had a sense of randomness about them, epitomised by a fourthtackle grubber which went 1m and gifted possession back to the Raiders or a prop dying with the ball on the last.
The Warriors then had their customary fade, conceding two tries in the space of three minutes to hand the Raiders the momentum.
The omens weren’t good from there, as the Warriors hadn’t been able to recover from a halftime deficit all season. Croker extended the Canberra’s advantage on the hour mark — after the Warriors couldn’t stop a Josh Papalii offload — and the game looked over.
But the Warriors mounted their unlikely comeback, with two tries in three minutes to Leuluai.
It still looked an improbable task before Fusitua scored one of his trademark miracle tries with seconds remaining and Luke kicked the pressure goal.
But the adrenalin of that period seemed to cost the Auckland side, as a couple of defensive lapses allowed the Raiders to score on the first set.
Raiders 26 (J. Croker 3, J. Tapine, J. Leilua tries; J. Croker 3 goals) Warriors 22 (M. Vatuvei, T. Leuluai 2, D. Fusitua tries, I. Luke 3 goals). Halftime: 12-4.