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At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland: Warriors 18 (Adam Pompey 13 min, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 19 min, Addin Fonua-Blake 74 min; Pompey 3 goals). Dragons 6 (Zac Lomax 61 min; Lomax goal).HT: 10-0
The Warriors were in seventh heaven after beating the Dragons 18-6 at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday night.
The win was the Warriors’ seventh in a row and puts them one short of a club record for consecutive wins, set in 2002.
However, this game was a lot tighter than people anticipated, with a combination of resilient defence from the Dragons and inability to finish off tries by Warriors keeping the scores close until Addin Fonua-Blake’s try six minutes from time.
After going through a period of the season with patchy performances, the Warriors showed signs of improvement last weekend against the Sea Eagles, particularly in the second half, and they continued their strong defence in this game, even though the attack need more bite.
Addin Fonua-Blake was a monster up the middle of the field for the Warriors, running the ball for 216 metres and his starting front row partner Bunty Afoa also had a big game.
Dave Rowland/Getty Images
Adam Pompey scored the opening try against the Dragons on Friday night.
It was no doubt a tactical move by Dragons’ interim coach Ryan Carr to make a late switch with his wingers, to put his main strike weapon Mikaele Ravalawa up against the Warriors’ left edge defence that continually got opened up by the Sea Eagles last weekend.
Ravalawa has made a habit of causing misery to the Warriors, but this time the Fijian winger was kept quiet.
The Dragons thought they’d scored a try after just eight seconds when Zac Lomax went in, but the bunker ruled a knock on, saving the Warriors’ blushes.
After that extraordinary start the game settled down, but as the Warriors have shown so many times this season, if you give them an attacking opportunity they’ll take it.
Dave Rowland/Getty Images
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak beats Sione Finau in the air for the ball.
It was the much criticised left edge that stood up, with Luke Metcalf’s cutout pass finding Adam Pompey, who snaked his way across the line.
Six minutes later Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who really should be mentioned in the same breath as Kalyn Ponga and Reece Walsh in discussions about the best fullback in the NRL, made a stunning solo run for the Warriors’ next try.
Fonua-Blake lost the ball in the act of grounding it for a try in the 34th minute and the Warriors were only able to take a 10-0 lead into the break, which didn’t reflect their dominance.
The Warriors’ inability to nail tries, kept the Dragons in the game and even more so when Zac Lomax scored after Dallin Watene-Zelezniak couldn’t keep hold of a bomb.
But the game was over when Fonua-Blake scored in the 74th minute, grounding the ball after Lomax failed to do so as it bobbled around the Dragons in goal.
AT A GLANCE
The big moment
The Dragons could have taken a shock early lead before this game was 10 seconds old when Zac Lomax went in. Thankfully for the Warriors the try was rubbed out, but had it stood, it could have given them hope of a shock win.
Match rating
7/10: It was a tight and tense battle, but not full of many magic moments. But at this point of the season it’s all about the two points and the crowd of 25,095 loved it.
MVP
Josh Curran said recently he didn’t think he’d had a good season, but he got the nod over Jackson Ford to start in this game and had a blinder, showing sharp footwork and a tenacious attacking mentality.
The big picture
That’s it. This win mathematically confirms the Warriors’ spot in the top four, but they don’t know yet whether they’ll play the Panthers or Broncos in the first week of the finals.
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