Warriors beat Dragons 20-12 to end their unbeaten start to the season
LONG ridiculed as the NRL’s great underachievers, the Warriors overcame some huge setbacks to deny the Dragons in a stunning upset victory led by Issac Luke.
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ISSAC Luke, welcome back.
And St George Illawarra, welcome back to reality.
That was the story to come out of New Zealand as the Warriors ended the Dragons’ unbeaten start to the season with one of the gutsiest and most inspirational wins in the club’s history.
Long ridiculed as the NRL’s great underachievers, the Warriors overcame some huge setbacks to deny the Dragons in a stunning 20-12 upset victory.
After going into the game without Shaun Johnson, they also lost Tohu Harris to concussion in the first half and had to contend with the sin binning of Blake Green.
But against the odds, the Warriors showed everyone why they now have to be rated genuine premiership contenders in 2018.
The Warriors now join the Dragons on 12 competition points at the top of the NRL ladder.
And it was the tough little hooker who led the way in everything with a performance that reminded everyone just how good a player Luke is when he is fit and firing.
Luke has hardly set the world on fire since leaving South Sydney at the end of 2015 but he’s back to his best in 2018 and on Friday night was his best game in a Warriors’ jumper.
Luke was wonderful but he wasn’t on his own with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck also providing an outstanding captain’s performance.
Luke was terrific with his work from dummy half and in defence.
And he was rewarded with the match-clinching try that came on the back of his own 40-20 kick when the game was still in the balance in the 65th minute.
The Dragons were far from embarrassed but now face a tough period counting down to Origin.
It starts with the Sydney Roosters on Anzac Day followed by Melbourne, South Sydney, Canberra and Penrith before the bye leading into the Origin opener.
The Warriors went to the break 10-0 up despite losing Harris in the 27th minute while Green was sin binned in the final minute before halftime.
Green was marched for repeated infringements with the penalty count at that point 10-3 against the Warriors.
Harris was flattened in a sickening collision while attempting a tackle on Leeson Ah Mau and took no further part in the game.
The Warriors first half defence was outstanding with the Dragons unable to score despite having a 59-41 per cent split of possession.
Losing Green was a massive moment given his huge influence on the first half through his kicking game and general direction.
Green only had 30 seconds of his sin bin time remaining when Bent Hunt stepped up with a terrific solo try.
Hunt beat three defenders and carried two more over the line to bring the margin back to 10-6.
The Dragons were desperately unlucky when Tim Lafai was denied an intercept try in the 63rd minute after James Graham unfortunately knocked the ball into Tuivasa Sheck while competing for a bomb.
But soon after Luke landed his 40/20 before he barged through Matt Dufty for a vital try.
The Warriors completed the win with a final try in the final minutes Isaiah Papali’i.
Johnson’s stand-in Mason Lino opened the scoring in just the fourth minute with a terrific run when he beat Gareth Widdop and Dufty.
The Dragons bombed their best first half chance when Nene MacDonald had the line open but copped a tough pass from Tim Lafai.
NZ WARRIORS 20 (A Gelling M Lino I Luke I Papali’i tries M Lino 2 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 12 (B Hunt T Sims tries G Widdop 2 goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Henry Perenara. Crowd: 18,295.