University, Resilient Warriors continue stunning start to season Bears victorious
AUCKLAND: The Warriors have continued their stunning opening to the NRL season, quelling a North Queensland fightback to win 2212 in Auckland.
Down 180 late in the first half, the Cowboys clawed their way back to within eight points midway through the second spell before falling to their fourth defeat in a row.
‘‘It was a real tough contest out there,’’ Warriors coach Stephen Kearney said.
‘‘We came up against a very committed footy team and I think they had something like 95% completion with about 10 or 15 minutes to go.
‘‘It took us a lot to get over the tryline, particularly in that second half.’’
The Warriors are 50 in the club’s best start to a campaign, staying with St George Illawarra as the competition’s only unbeaten teams.
Unfancied by many pundits at the beginning of 2018, they are firming as favourites to make their first finals appearance since 2011.
They again demonstrated their newfound defensive resilience on Saturday night against last year’s grand finalists.
They also had plenty of hardrunning from their outside backs. David Fusitu’a, Peta Hiku, Solomone Kata and Ken Maumalo all racked up more than 120m and Maumalo led the way with 159m.
Fusitu’a scored two tries to take his season tally to seven.
Halfback Shaun Johnson, who landed all five shots at goal, showed little effects of the groin injury that sidelined him from last weekend’s win over the Sydney Roosters.
Cowboys coach Paul Green believed his side was improving, although he conceded his players were lacking a bit of confidence.
‘‘We need to work a little bit harder but, again, there was an improvement there,’’ he said.
‘‘I thought throughout most of the second half, we were the better side.’’
But the Cowboys were undone by ‘‘a couple of soft tries early on’’.
‘‘Just the pressure we are putting on ourselves by conceding tries early is probably the worst part of it at the moment,’’ he said.
In front of 25,600 fans, the Warriors scored after just five minutes, through Maumalo’s leaping touchdown, before Fusitu’a followed up with a double on the other flank.
Fusitu’a’s first came from a superb Johnson pass, and some slick passing set up his second.
North Queensland finally scored close to halftime, with winger Kyle Feldt producing an acrobatic putdown.
The Cowboys continued to ask questions through the second half, and fullback Ben Hampton eventually found the tryline in the 60th minute.
Star half Johnathan Thurston, who had helped set up the try, landed his second sideline conversion to close the gap to eight.
However, Johnson had the final say, kicking a late penalty goal. — AAP THE Dunedin club season began at Kettle Park on Saturday, when University and the Dunedin Bears notched wins.
University took on the South Pacific Raiders in a seesawing contest that was decided by just two points, the students taking the game 2624.
The Raiders had the momentum in the early stages through their strong, ballrunning forwards.
New secondrower Ben Hanara had several strong carries, as did captain
Manassah Kutia, and both players were able to get offloads away to gain extra metres regularly. This strong platform allowed hooker Ethan Ramage to dominate the ruck area. Ramage caught the defence napping at times, and scored two tries running out of dummy half near the tryline.
Despite going into the match missing key players through injuries and the midsemester break, University was able to call on its fitness and defensive skills to stay in the fight. With ball in hand, the students posed threats.
Jalan Wallace showed elusive footwork, and great strength, beating several defenders in each of his three tries. Wallace found support in the form of standin captain Finn Langdale, who scored a try from a Jong Hoon Lee offload and kicked a penalty in the last remaining minutes to effectively win the match for his side.
Competition newcomers the Dunedin Bears were also in the winner’s circle, securing their first win, 3622 against reigning premiers the Kia Toa Tigers.
The Bears were welcomed into the ORL in true Southern style, being led out by Angus Liddell playing the bagpipes. The first points to be scored in the club’s history came in the first minute of play, when Camrin Brown crossed the line for the first of his two tries. Owen Draper commanded the Bears’ offence well, using his forwards to cart the ball and then putting players into space on the edges. Draper also showed some individual brilliance to cut through the Tigers for two tries of his own.
The match was heavily physical, and the Tigers never looked out of the contest, despite missing some key players through injury, including captain Vila Apuula. Playmaker Taua Piri orchestrated the attack effectively, and created opportunities for his backs to strike. There were also some strong showings from new players Talosanga Ueta and Andre Kemp, both making big hits and Kemp being a real threat with his running game.
Another positive for the Tigers was Jordan Fuatavai, new to the club this year after the East
Coast Eagles left the competition. Fuatavai took strong carries into the line, and worked hard on defence in the middle of the ground.
Bears coach Monson Prouting said his side had a lot to be proud of and would be looking to build on the performance as the season continued.