New Zealand Warriors beat Sydney Roosters 23-12 in NRL round 14

A month ago Matt Elliott was fighting to save his job. Today he is in charge of a team that has everyone else looking over their shoulder.

A month ago Matt Elliott was fighting to save his job. Today he is in charge of a team that has everyone else looking over their shoulder.

In round 10 the Warriors were smashed 62-6 by Penrith - and with just two wins for the season, they sat last on the NRL table.

But since they have defeated Newcastle, Brisbane, Manly and now the Sydney Roosters after last night’s thrilling 23-12 victory at Allianz Stadium.

That’s consecutive wins over top four teams - and the question that must be asked today is if this competition has a new contender?

All year we’ve been talking how only four teams can win the comp - but where do we put the Warriors in this scenario after their efforts in recent weeks?

OK, they’re not in the top eight yet - but if you missed last night’s performance against the Roosters, you missed something special from the Warriors.

They had every right to lose - yet still found a way to win.

It was the direct opposite for how you could describe the Roosters' performance after Shaun Kenny-Dowall came up with a couple of classic bloopers that stole defeat from the jaws of victory.

It was the kind of night Kenny-Dowall will want to forget. But we’ll get back to that.

First on the Warriors.

The last time they won four in a row was back in 2011 and that year they made the grand final.

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So last night Elliott was asked how it has all turned around in the past month - and what he spoke about was attitude.

“We were a long way behind in the possession count in the second half there and to be behind at that time and to come back after that, again, the defensive effort was fantastic,” he explained.

“Really, defence is more about mentality. People always talk about defensive attitude and the attitude tonight, to find a way, is what we need to be renowned for.”

And some of the efforts they produced were quite spectacular.

They’ll be talking about Shaun Johnson’s try saving chase on Michael Jennings for years - how he went into the game carrying a groin injury and still chased down one of the fastest men in the game with a phenomenal show of will.

And not to be outdone, Glen Fisiiahi came up with an effort on Kenny-Dowall in the 66th minute that was the exclamation point on the Warriors’ night.

Kenny-Dowall looked over for all money but somehow Fisiiahi knocked the ball out of his hands in a desperate try-saving effort that said everything about attitude.

As Trent Robinson said of that play: “You want to ice those ones when you get those opportunities.”

Elliott added: “The police have been called in for Fish for pick-pocketing.

“That was just, whoa.”

Johnson tackle

Indeed, whoa was a pretty good description of the night in general.

Kenny-Dowall came up with another forgettable moment in the 70th minute when he tried to pin the Warriors in goal with a grubber kick but instead big Manu Vatuvei picked up the loose ball and ran the length of the field for the try to put his team out to a 20-12 lead.

That was game set for the Warriors before a late penalty goal and a field goal sealed the win.

Asked if attitude was the difference last night, Robinson said: “Probably not attitude.

“I thought we were fighting hard. I thought we rolled through the ruck quite well but I thought our composure let us down.”

Minichiello added: “There were some last-play kicks there that we have to look at and probably get better at.

“But as Robbo mentioned earlier, we were just a bit frantic on tackle four, five and it sort of filters through the team.

“We all got the try-happy bug, which doesn’t work.”

Which is something they need to work on, though still in the top four it’s a bit early to hit the panic button yet.

The good news for the Roosters is that their three NSW Origin players should all be fit for game two.

Jennings suffered a minor ankle injury but Robinson said no way would it put him in danger of missing next Wednesday night’s clash against Queensland.

WARRIORS 23 (G Fisiiahi N Laumape E Taylor M Vatuvei tries F Mateo 2 S Johnson goals S Johnson field goal) bt SYDNEY ROOSTERS 12 (A Minichiello S Williams tries J Maloney 2 goals) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Chris James, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 11,040.