The Warriors celebrated their long-awaited return to Mt Smart Stadium in style with a 22-2 victory over the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
Back home for the first time in 1038 days, the Warriors made sure their legion of fans went home happy with their fifth win of the season.
After controlling possession for the first 10 minutes and receiving four consecutive penalties, the Warriors appeared to have broken the Tigers ’line when Wayde Egan crossed from the fictitious half, but the bunker ruled they had stopped him.
The home side worked hard to get through the middle and as a result, had a good chance of getting one back as Shaun Johnson tried lifting the ball over keeper Marcelo Montoya. Unfortunately, Ronald Volkman made a disastrous appearance.
After 25 minutes without being able to break the Tigers’ defense, the Warriors settled for a Johnson penalty goal to open their account.
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The brave captain makes the Warriors leave
Then skipper Tohu Harris sent the Warriors loyalists into a frenzy when he pushed an entry from Kelma Tuilagi to score next to the posts. Johnson’s conversion made it 8-0.
Tuilagi aggravated this error by giving a penalty with a late entry to Volkman and the Warriors passed through Chanel Harris-Tavita, who chased another Johnson bomb and hit the ground in the right corner.
A penalty against Jazz Tevaga for a late blow to Jackson Hastings gave the Tigers a chance to get on the board in the 40th minute and Adam Doueihi scored to make it 14-2.
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Arthars seals the happy return home
The second half turned into an arm wrestling as both sides completed their sets and defended hard before an obstructive penalty against Alex Seyfarth in the 64th minute gave Johnson a shot from 35 yards out that he scored. a 14-point lead.
With nine minutes left in the game, the Tigers seemed ready to make the first attempt, but a great input from Josh Curran kept Luke Garner at bay.
The Warriors put the icing on the cake with a try in the 75th minute of another perfectly placed Johnson shot that Dallin Watene-Zelezniak sent for Jesse Arthars to score the 12th try of his career.
Snapshot of the match
- Warriors punter Jazz Tevaga left the field in the second minute for a passing HIA.
- The Tigers only had 38 percent possession in the first half and were forced to make 74 more tackles than the Warriors.
- Warriors supporter Bunty Afoa played his 100th NRL game.
- Tigers veteran winger Ken Maumalo was the only player on both sides to run more than 100 yards in the first. The former warrior scored 117 yards from 10 runs.
- The Tigers have not won at Mt Smart Stadium since round 25 of 2016.
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The Warriors have returned home and Auckland explodes
- Skipper Tohu Harris was an inspiration to the Warriors with 131 yards on 14 runs.
- With the Tigers forced to do a mountain of defensive work, Joe Ofahengaue arrived with 58 stunning tackles.
- The Warriors have won the last five games against the Wests Tigers.
- The last time the Warriors did an opposition test was the third round of 2020 against the Dragons.
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Ofahengaue surprises Curran
Game games
Shaun Johnson is one of the Warriors ’favorite sons and came out great on the big occasion with a master class in stitches. The midfielder had total control for the full 80 minutes, dropping perfectly placed bombs and kicking to keep the Tigers in their own territory. The 220-game veteran used all his experience and cunning to get two assists, 524 yards of 19-point kicks and 103 yards running. His last conversion of the day from the sideline brought his career to 1200 points.
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In the right place at the right time
What they said
“Very, very happy compared to the previous couple or weeks or so. It’s been a great week coming home, the excitement for the game and the players feel like they’re home. To do a performance, a strong performance. I thought, I had a good week. ” – Stacey Jones, Warriors coach
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Warriors: Round 16
“I thought we worked hard, for many periods there they defended the rehearsal line quite well, they scored three tries, one was out of a block near the post, two were out of our lack of defusals from launch, so it wasn’t how we were blown away. “ – Tigers coach Brett Kimmorley
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Wests Tigers: Round 16
That follows
The Warriors will be fired in round 17 before crossing Tasman again to face the Eels at CommBank Stadium in round 18. They should have Reece Walsh back on deck after losing today’s game to COVID .
The Tigers return to their Leichhardt Oval spiritual home on Saturday to host the Eels, the team they upset in the sixth round courtesy of a Jackson Hastings field goal in the 80th …