Johnson injured in Warriors loss to Panthers
The Warriors failed to give Manu Vatuvei the send off he deserved but coach Stephen Kearney has bigger things to worry about after star halfback Shaun Johnson was struck down by a knee injury.
With so much to play for in front of 13,067 people at ‘Manu Vatuvei Stadium’, this was a chance for Stephen Kearney’s side to rise to the occasion.
Instead, they turned in another inconsistent performance before unravelling at the back-end as a hat-trick from halfback Nathan Clearly led the Panthers to a crucial 34-22 victory.
The defeat dealt a huge blow to the Auckland club’s finals hopes and depending on other results, they could find themselves six points outside the top eight by the end of the weekend with seven games left in the season.
The bad news doesn’t end there, though, as Kearney faces a nervous wait on Johnson, who was forced from the field in the final quarter after pulling up lame while chasing a break from Issac Luke. While Vatuvei’s new contract with Salford prevented him from playing, so much of the night was all about honouring one of the club’s favourite sons before he departs for the UK on Sunday. Mt Smart was renamed in his honour and his teammates formed a guard of honour as ‘The Beast’ walked onto the field with his family before kick-off.
It took the Warriors just two minutes to open the scoring and it was fitting that Vatuvei’s close friend Simon Mannering crossed after backing up a scything run from Johnson.
The Panthers had injury concerns of their own with skipper Matt Moylan a late withdrawal and Kangaroos back-rower Trent Merrin forced off after 27 minutes due to a knee problem.
However, the Warriors were far too error-prone in the first half to make them pay.
A David Fusitu’a mistake followed by a fifth-tackle penalty deep in their own territory allowed the visitors to respond through Corey Harawira-Naera.
After Solomone Kata barrelled his way over from close-range, the Warriors again let the Panthers off the hook when Johnson kicked out on the full before two superb offloads by Nathan Cleary and Merrin set up Moylan’s replacement, rookie Tyrone May.
Cleary then showed his class, beating two tried forwards close to the line to reach over and give his side six-point buffer.
The Warriors had chances to equalise before the break but just weren’t clinical enough with the ball, although Ken Maumalo was unlucky to be called back for a knock-on by the bunker, who overturned the on-field call of try.
Harawira-Naera was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul early in the second half following a quick tap from Luke and the Warriors immediately made them pay via Kata out wide.
The decision seemed to spark the forwards into action. Led by James Gavet, they churned through the metres in the middle of the park, with the halves making the most of the space created out wide as Bodene Thompson finished off a slick move to the right.
However, then came the crucial moment as Johnson was assisted from the field and the Warriors failed to cope in his absence. Cleary put the game out of reach with two more tries before Waqa Blake broke through some soft defence to end a disappointing night for the home side.