Warriors burned after spurning early chances
You have to hope this was just a blip.
This wasn’t the Warriors fans have come to know in the Andrew Webster era — and brought back unwanted memories of some awful defeats to the Dragons over the years.
Maybe it was fatigue. Maybe it was the growing injury toll starting to bite. Maybe it was overconfidence, or the distraction caused by the huge hype during the week around the signing of Penrith prop James Fisher-Harris.
Whatever it was, it was nowhere near good enough, as the Warriors were steamrolled 30-12 by the St George Illawarra Dragons last night.
After the Warriors took an early 6-0 lead, the Dragons scored five unanswered tries to stun the Auckland club.
If the Warriors were off colour, St George were breathing fire in one of their best performances in years.
They were considerable underdogs but defended superbly, especially in the opening 20 minutes, when they repelled the Warriors constantly.
In contrast, the Warriors couldn’t establish their usual defensive platform and conceded some messy tries.
St George dominated the ruck for most of the match and made the visitors pay, while the Warriors were also hampered by penalties and poor discipline.
It was a tough watch, with few players emerging with credit and some individuals badly missing the mark.
Webster is usually measured in his assessment but won’t find much to like about this, one of the most comprehensive defeats he has overseen as a first-grade coach.
They will have to reset quickly, with another short turnaround before the Anzac Day match against the Gold Coast Titans at Mt Smart.
Ironically, the Warriors could have been almost out of sight after 20 minutes. In terms of game control, they produced their best first quarter of the season, with a remarkable 30 tackles to one inside the opposition half, including a series of repeat sets on the goal line.
The home side didn’t even have a play the ball inside the Warriors’ 20m area until the 25th minute.
But — not for the first time this season — the Warriors couldn’t make it count.
It was mainly down to desperate defence, though the Warriors lacked the clinical execution seen in 2023, with the timing not quite there, which allowed tacklers extra time to swoop.
Shaun Johnson strolled through a gaping hole to score in the 11th minute, taking advantage of Wayde Egan’s deception and some lazy defence. But that was as good as it got for the visitors.
After hanging on grimly, the Dragons got momentum through a couple of penalties, before two tries in five minutes to Mosese Suli and Mikaele Ravalawa. Both came from one-on-one misses but it was a product of pressure, as the Warriors were set back on their heels.
Ben Hunt’s strong individual try — through three defenders — symbolised the Dragons’ resurgence.
They were helped by more repeat sets and penalties, and simply powered through the middle, before the outstanding Zac Lomax grabbed a bonus two-point field goal just before the break for a 16-6 lead.
The mindset of the two teams was epitomised early in the second half, as an adrenalin-charged Lomax soared way above Marcelo Montoya for their fourth try.
There was more pain to come, as a Johnson grubber bounced too long, before the Dragons went the length of the field to force a line dropout, with a mental lapse from Roger TuivasaSheck gifting St George a penalty in front of the posts.
That felt like the end of the road, and any hope of a miraculous comeback was over with Tyrell Sloan’s long-range try in the 61st minute, after Johnson dropped the ball cold, then Watene-Zelezniak was fended off by the speedy fullback.
The Warriors winger grabbed a late consolation, scoring with a spectacular leap in the corner.
Dragons 30 (Mosese Suli, Mikaele Ravalawa, Ben Hunt, Zac Lomax, Tyrell Sloan tries, Lomax 3 cons, pen, two-point field goal)
Warriors 12 (Shaun Johnson, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak tries; Johnson 2 cons)
HT: 16-6.