NRL round 5: Peter Hiku hat-trick sets up entertaining New Zealand Warriors victory

Peter Hiku’s monumental brain fade gifted the Cowboys a try, but it didn’t take long for New Zealand Warriors star to redeem himself.

The North Queensland Cowboys have only won two of their last ten NRL matches without former Dally M medallist Jason Taumalolo.

New Zealand Warriors centre Peter Hiku quickly went from hero to villain after a stunning hat-trick during their entertaining 37-26 victory at Central Coast Stadium.

A monumental brain fade from Hiku gifted the North Queensland Cowboys the lead in the first half. Scores were tied at 6-6 in the 22nd minute when Cowboys second-rower Mitchell Dunn kicked a grubber through the Warriors’ defence towards Kyle Feldt on the right wing.

However, the ball sat up nicely for Hiku in the scoring area, who was granted plenty of time to knock it out of play.

But the 27-year-old suffered a catastrophic error of judgment, allowing the ball to bounce long enough for Feldt to run through and score the try.

The referees went upstairs, but Kyle was comfortably onside and grounded the ball cleanly.

That is incredibly poor from Hiku 🤦🏼

— John Mckenzie (@Johnmck419) June 12, 2020

What is Peta Hiku doing? #NRL

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) June 12, 2020

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Despite the error, the Warriors bounced back immediately, with second-rower Eliesa Katoa scoring less than three minutes later to put the match back in the balance.

Hiku redeemed himself by scoring a classy try late in the first half, running through two defenders to score on the left wing.

“Hiku made up for that blunder earlier in the game,” NRL great Sam Burgess said at halftime.

Kodi Nikorima’s field goal on the buzzer gave the Warriors a five-point lead going into the break.

Meanwhile, Cowboys fullback Valentine Holmes left the field of play after scoring a try in the 15th minute. The 24-year-old suffered a left ankle injury, and was seen hobbling for most of the first half.

Determination by Hiku 👊#NRLWarriorsCowboys 16-12 after 35 mins.#TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/wZv6AZIjaW

— NRL (@NRL) June 12, 2020

The topsy-turvy second half kept both sides in contention for a win, but Hiku scored two more tries to ensure a comfortable victory for the Warriors.

A precise kick from hooker Wayde Egan set up Hiku’s second of the night, and a leaping effort in the 64th minute all but secured the win.

Hiku’s hat-trick was the third of his NRL career — before Friday’s match, he has never scored a try against the Cowboys.

A late try for Feldt ensured the Cowboys winger became the competition’s highest tryscorer, but it was too little too late.

The Warriors will slide up to tenth on the NRL ladder after managing their second win of the season.

Hold that thought...

Make it a HIKU-HAT-TRICK 🔥🔥🔥#NRLWarriorsCowboys 31-22 with 16 mins to go.#TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/CI5Q2rY6GP

— NRL (@NRL) June 12, 2020

Okay Hiku... I forgive you

— John Mckenzie (@Johnmck419) June 12, 2020

On the field, Kodi Nikorima was a standout for the Warriors with two try-assists, two linebreak assists, a linebreak and a field goal to help the Warriors secure their second win of the season.

“That’s the challenge for Kodi to elevate him to the status of the top-shelf halves in the competition — to turn that on every week, similar to what he did tonight and against the Dragons,” coach Stephen Kearney said.

“It’s the awareness of what we need from him, he was good tonight. But it was a pretty solid team performance.”

‘ABSURD’ INFLUENCE OF COWBOYS POWERHOUSE

The North Queensland Cowboys have been boosted by the return of star forward Jason Taumalolo ahead of their round five clash against the New Zealand Warriors.

Taumalolo missed last weekend’s match against the Cronulla Sharks with a knee injury, and his presence was sorely missed, with the Cowboys suffering a 26-16 loss in Townsville. But the 27-year-old trained without difficulty on Thursday, and will be promoted from the extended bench for Friday’s game.

The former Dally M medallist has seemingly gone to another level this year, becoming the first person on record to run for 700 metres in the opening three rounds of a season.

Despite missing the round four loss, the Tongan powerhouse still leads the league for post-contact metres, with 285m.

To emphasise Taumalolo’s influence, the Cowboys have won just two out of their past ten games without the powerhouse No. 13.

Jason Taumalolo has played 185 games for the North Queensland Cowboys since his debut in 2010.

Speaking on Fox League, NRL great Sam Burgess believed the Cowboys sorely missed Taumalolo’s leadership last weekend.

“(The Cowboys) just lacked something, didn’t they. What Jason brings is consistency. He competes, he gets to the team on the front foot, which locks the team,” Burgess said on Friday.

“He turns up every week, he gives the same performance, same attitude, he leads from the front.

“He’s been the most consistent forward in the last five years, without a doubt.

“Nothing fazes him; nothing gets to his ego. He just loves the game.”

Queensland Maroons coach Kevin Walters labelled Taumalolo a “nightmare” for opposition, arguing the newly-introduced rule changes helped his hard-hitting offensive gameplay.

“He ran for 300 metres in 60 minutes in his last game. That’s absurd,” Walters said on Friday.

“I think the rule changes have benefited his game; he just charges through that middle. He’s a nightmare for opposition players to defend against.”

However, playmaker Scott Drinkwater is adamant the Cowboys are not reliant on Taumalolo, despite his impressive start to the 2020 season.

“It’s no secret Jase has a big impact through the middle, but our other forwards do a tremendous job,” Drinkwater told Fox League’s NRL Tonight.

“We made 17 errors (against Cronulla). We made it hard for ourselves and we still had a chance to win that game.

“Jase’s 300 metres a game does help us, but I don’t think we rely on him as much as the outside world thinks we do.”

North Queensland Cowboys playmaker Scott Drinkwater.

Cowboys coach Paul Green echoed Drinkwater’s remarks, rubbishing suggestions Taumalolo’s absence was the reason for last week’s loss.

“Everyone’s making a lot of the fact we lost because Jason’s out, but I think we weren’t that far off,” Green said.

“I’m not blaming anyone, but if our left edge had stopped at least one of those tries, we’d probably get a different result. Most of the blokes last week did their job.”

The Warriors are languishing in 14th on the NRL ladder following their 26-0 drubbing from Penrith last week, and have only managed one victory this season.

But Green expects their stilted attack to blossom at some stage, potentially through the deception of hooker Wayde Egan.

“I think Egan’s really made a difference. It’s no coincidence they’re playing a lot more through the middle,” Green said.

“He’s pretty smart out of dummy-half there so we’ll have to be honest in that area.”

Taumalolo was also wary of the Warriors, despite their underwhelming start to the season.

“We can’t really let ourselves be complacent going into this game,” Taumalolo said on Friday.

“We know what they’re capable of, and they’ve got some players who can make things happen. For us, we’re taking this game very seriously.”

— With AAP

Warriors side: 1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 2. Patrick Herbert 20. Peta Hiku 4. Gerard Beale 5. Adam Pompey 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Blake Green 8. Jamayne Taunoa-Brown 9. Wayde Egan 10. Lachlan Burr 11. Eliesa Katoa 12. Tohu Harris 13. Adam Blair 14. Karl Lawton 15. Poasa Faamausili 16. King Vuniyayawa 17. Jack Murchie

Cowboys side: 1. Valentine Holmes 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Justin O’Neill 4. Esan Marsters 5. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 6. Scott Drinkwater 7. Jake Clifford 13. Josh Mcguire 9. Reece Robson 10. Jordan McLean 11. Mitchell Dunn 12. Coen Hess 20. Jason Taumalolo 8. Francis Molo 14. Reuben Cotter 15. Tom Gilbert 17. Gavin Cooper