Fast-starting Warriors fade as Sharks pull off comeback win
The Warriors learnt a harsh lesson about expectation last night.
In the most anticipated season opener in decades, the home side couldn’t deliver, unravelling badly after a promising start.
The Cronulla Sharks crashed the Wahs party in a big way, coming back from a 12-0 deficit to win 16-12 in a massive anticlimax.
The Warriors looked weighed down by the occasion, especially in the second half, as nerves and anxiety came into their play, something rarely seen in 2023.
It looked like somewhere, somehow, they had got ahead of themselves, even in a small way.
It was a bizarre match.
The Warriors were almost perfect for the first 30 minutes, threatening to blow the Sharks off the park. They banked two tries but should have been well ahead and out of sight and the 12-6 halftime advantage was never likely to be enough.
Cronulla seemed to employ a ropea-dope strategy, as they took all the punches, helped by some incredible defence. They were also assisted by latitude in the ruck from referee Peter Gough, who allowed them to slow the play the ball in the first half.
Too many Warriors were below their standards, with Tohu Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake among the few to emerge with credit.
They were held scoreless for the final 68 minutes and the second half was one of the worst of the Andrew Webster coaching era.
They lost Wayde Egan to injury heading into the final quarter and missed the power of Marata Niukore.
Cronulla brought a physical edge from the start, with heavy shots on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Shaun Johnson. That wound up the crowd — full of adrenalin — but also fired up the home team. They rolled into their work, punishing charge after punishing charge, before FonuaBlake crashed over near the posts, following deft work from Egan.
If that was exciting, the crowd were almost out of their seats five minutes later, when Luke Metcalf beat four defenders to score, stepping back against the grain.
The scene was set for a party, as the Sharks looked stunned. But the NRL is not usually that simple. Cronulla pulled off a near miracle to not concede again in the half, defying an overwhelming amount of territory and possession. They defended brilliantly — at one stage saving two certain tries in 30 seconds, as Jackson Ford was stopped on the goal line, before Watene-Zelezniak was flung over the sideline after hauling in a Johnson chip.
The Warriors were doing everything right except scoring, with the execution not quite there.
Errors also released the pressure, with the unfortunate Ford coughing up the ball three times in the first half.
That allowed the Sharks to gain a foothold and the momentum turned. Cronulla finally got some attacking ball and Jesse Ramien forced his way over from close range, though defenders may have been impeded.
It got messy straight after the break, as the Warriors switched off on the left edge — which led to Ronaldo Mulitalo crossing on the other flank.
A Fonua-Blake bust got the Warriors rolling but they couldn’t finish due to to desperate defence. They lost their way in the third quarter, summed up when Fonua-Blake ended up with the ball on the fifth tackle, with a miscued bomb, while the Sharks found their groove.
They were rewarded with Siosifa Talakai’s try, after the Warriors were again outflanked.
The sense that it was going to be one of those nights was compounded with Egan’s injury, which came when the Warriors tried to maul a Sharks player into the in goal and the hooker got trapped under a teammate.
The Warriors had chances in the final 10 minutes but never looked like escaping the swarming Sharks defence, who anticipated their moves well.
Warriors 12 (Addin Fonua-Blake, Luke Metcalf tries; Shaun Johnson 2 goals)
Sharks 16 ( Jesse Ramien, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Siosifa Talakai tries; Braydon Trindall, Nicho Hynes goals) Halftime: 12-6.