New Zealand Warriors pull off 20-point comeback in wild NRL thriller

The New Zealand Warriors have pulled off one of the all-time comebacks, stunning the Cronulla Sharks in an unrecognisable display.

What scenes. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

The New Zealand Warriors will finish round 5 of the NRL season in second on the ladder after pulling off a remarkable 32-30 win over the Cronulla Sharks.

The Warriors have lost just one game this season and overcame a 20-0 deficit inside the opening 20 minutes.

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While it wasn’t the wildest of comebacks after the Sharks did the damage early and left plenty of time for the recovery, it was not the Warriors the NRL has been used to.

The Kiwis have been to the finals once since making its last grand final in 2011 but played like world-beaters against one of the competition heavyweights.

The sides were locked at 30-all for the final 10 minutes which saw Sharks stalwart Dale Finucane sin binned for a controversial hip drop tackle.

Warriors half Shaun Johnson was then unable to find touch with the kick, giving the Sharks a life in torrential rain.

But the Warriors were handed a penalty kick when Sharks forward Royce Hunt was deemed to have pulled back Warrior Josh Curran.

It allowed Johnson to kick the visitors ahead.

“Welcome back to the big time Shaun Johnson … the Warriors in 2023 are a different beast,” Fox League’s Andrew Voss said.

Scenes don’t get much better in the NRL. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

But the match wasn’t over there when Johnson was penalised for being off-side when trying to get the ball off the kick-off.

But Nicho Hynes was unable to respond after the siren, pushing his kick wide.

After full-time, Yvonne Sampson said: “Those final few minutes were absolute bedlam.”

Corey Parker added: “It’s mind-blowing isn’t it? They came back in the second half and got more ball than the Sharks, completed at 92 per cent in horrendous conditions.

“It had absolutely everything. And this is from a side that was 20-0 down after 15 minutes against the Sharks, the best attacking side in the competition.”

Greg Alexander, who played for the Warriors in his career, said it was one of the all-time wins in New Zealand’s NRL history.

“It’s as good as it gets,” he said. “I thought Vossy said it well that Warriors fans would go through the best games in their history and that would be in the mix. That was an incredible win. The circumstances unbelievable.”

That was one of the best games I’ve called! What a classic. Controversy aside, absorbing, tough and skilful. Bravo 👏 #NRLSharksWarriors@NRLonNine

— Mathew Thompson (@MathewJThompson) April 2, 2023

As if this roller coaster couldn’t get any stranger! This team is seriously nuts, it seems something special is brewing at Mt Smart. If they can sort out that start, this could be a heck of a season. #NRLSharksWarriors

— Alex Chapman (@AlexChapmanNZ) April 2, 2023

That is one of the great wins in Warriors history. #NRLSharksWarriors

— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) April 2, 2023

A still pumped up Shaun Johnson was in his element.

“That was off its head,” he said.

“Honestly we spoke at halftime, do we honestly believe we can come out and do it?

“We said some funny stuff at halftime bro. We were like we’ll tell out grandkids about this one day, let’s go out an have a crack.

“F**k man, we’re so resilient bro. I love being part of it, it’s such a good feeling. Obviously so much to like, so much to not like.

“They’re a good side bro, just stoked, what a feeling.”

This is not the Warriors we’ve known before. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Johnson said the results this season shows that this is a different Warriors team.

“Everyone that’s watching at home, everyone that’s watching here, they see a difference in us,” Johnson said. “I think everyone can see it now. We’re no longer the unknown, people can see it now, so it’s about us not getting comfortable or complacent. We go home, we work hard and we come back next week.”

Warriors teams of old would have lost by 50 after falling behind 20-0 inside the opening 20 minutes, but this is a completely different team under coach Andrew Webster who has them playing with a new-found sense of belief.

With Martin Gabor, NCA Newswire