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At Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane: Broncos 42 (Billy Walters 7 min, 23 min, Herbie Farnworth 16 min, 69 min, Jesse Arthars 18 min, Jordan Riki 54 min, Ezra Mann 59 min tries; Adam Reynolds 6 goals, Reece Walsh goal). Warriors 12 (Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 4 min, 11 min, Marcelo Montoya 28 min tries)
HT: 24-12
Sin binned: Adam Pompey (Warriors).
The Warriors’ incredible season has come to an end with the crushing 42-12 loss to the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, but the memories of it will live on forever.
Regardless of this loss, it has been a remarkable year for the Warriors and numerous people involved will be recognised at the Dally M Awards on Wednesday.
Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
The Broncos celebrate what turned out to be a one-sided Preliminary Final against the Warriors.
But aside from that, it’s been a season where the Warriors have captivated New Zealand, perhaps like never before and while they’ve finished up one step short of making it to the Grand Final, the foundations are in place to ensure 2023 won’t be a one-off.
This loss will hurt, particularly the size of it. But the Warriors players will benefit from the experience of being involved in finals footy and with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Chanel Harris-Tavita joining next year, there will be even more depth amongst the backs.
Given the way the Panthers destroyed the Storm 38-4 on Friday night in the other Preliminary Final, there was a feeling that the Broncos and Warriors were in a battle to be the team that loses to Ivan Cleary’s side next weekend.
The Warriors defence had been one of their main strengths this season, as they’ve stayed in shape and been resilient on their goal line.
Albert Perez/Getty Images
Marcelo Montoya’s try in the 28th minute was the last points the Warriors scored in the Preliminary Final.
But they just couldn’t contain the fizzed-up Broncos attack and they were exposed more in this game than at any other time this season. The 24 points leaked in the first half, was the second most all year.
It was a cruel twist that the player who did most of the damage was fullback Reece Walsh, who was contracted to the Warriors this season but was given a release to join the Broncos to be closer to his Brisbane-based daughter, after splitting with his former partner.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad has been a superb replacement for Walsh, but he came second in the contest between the two No 1s in this game.
The Warriors were given an early penalty when Selwyn Cobbo tackled Nicoll-Klokstad way before he was able to catch a bomb.
It gave the Warriors the early momentum and from it Dallin Watene-Zelezniak sneaked in for his 23rd try of the season.
However, Cobbo did the hard work as the Broncos struck back with a try in the seventh minute as he raced down the right edge. The ball was then moved inside and Billy Walters finished off the attack.
In the 12th minute, Watene-Zelezniak scored an intercept try to break the club record for the most tries scored in a season. It was a great moment, only spoilt by Adam Pompey missing his second conversion attempt.
England’s Herbie Farnworth got through some weak Warriors tackles to put the Broncos in the lead for the first time, in the 16th minute, as the tit-for-tat scoring continued.
Then soon after former Warrior Jesse Arthars extended the Broncos’ lead, benefiting from a four v three overlap on the left edge.
Walsh, who had been influential in a lot of the Broncos’ play, carved up the Warriors defence to gift Walters his second try, in the 23rd minute.
Down 24-8, the Warriors needed to score next, and they did when Marcelo Montoya crossed the line with 12 minutes left in the half.
But errors then crept into the Warriors game, allowing the Broncos to keep their 12-point lead at the break.
The first half was all action, but the first 15 minutes of the second period was more of a grind. Points eventually came following a horrendously forward pass thrown by Walsh to Cobbo that went unpunished and resulted in a try to Jordan Riki.
Pompey was sin-binned midway through the second half for a professional foul on Kotoni Staggs and soon after Ezra Mann bagged the Broncos’ sixth try to seal the game.
The big moment
The forward pass thrown by Reece Walsh in the second half that led to a Broncos try was a shocking miss by referee Gerard Sutton. It didn’t cost the Warriors the game, but made their task a lot harder.
Match rating
7/10: It was an end-to-end first half with the game played at a relentless pace. However, the second half was completely dominated by the Broncos.
MVP
Warriors fans got glimpses of how good Reece Walsh would be during his two years at the club, but in this game the fullback showed he’s now the full package.
The big picture
The Warriors lost all five of their games against the teams that occupied the top three spots on the ladder, showing there’s still a way to go to be genuine Premiership contenders.
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