By PETER JESSUP
Only prop Richard Villasanti pays for the New Zealand Warriors' first-up National Rugby League loss to Canberra.
Four dropped balls were one too many, and so Welsh World Cup prop Justin Morgan gets a chance to resurrect his career on Sunday, against the Northern Eagles.
The Warriors came through the Canberra game with injury only to their pride in that they felt they could and should have won. The attitude was enough for coach Daniel Anderson to stick with 16 of his 17.
Anderson has watched the video numerous times and found plenty to work on. He was generally happy with the defence. Two glaring first-half errors and players falling off to allow the Raiders a final try were the only line-breaks the visitors made.
There was much to be learned about the formation and shape of the team across the field, especially in the opposition's 20m, he said. There was some ill-discipline that would be addressed.
"I'm struggling to have a crack at the ref - we deserved every penalty we got."
But fullback Ivan Cleary still believed he had scored and close inspection of Jason Death's effort over the line showed it could have gone to the video referee.
"We won everywhere except on the scoreboard," said Anderson. "We had more plays in their half than they had in ours, we carried the ball for more metres."
Some players were unsure of their role in the last 20m "and that's easily sorted."
The 25-year-old Morgan, 190cm and 105kg, was at Parramatta with Anderson and won clubman of the year there in 1997. A knee injury has affected him since, but his World Cup performance for Wales last year was sufficient to earn him another chance in Auckland.
The NRL judiciary took no action against Monty Betham, put on report for what could have been a head-slam.
The Eagles are unchanged after their first-up away win over Newcastle. Anderson's main concern is containing their test half Brett Kimmorley.
Sunday's game, at Gosford, kicks off at 6 pm NZT, a late start because of the summer heat.
Teams:
New Zealand Warriors: Ivan Cleary, Henry Fa'afili, Richie Blackmore, David Myles, Francis Meli, Cliff Beverley, Stacey Jones (capt), Mark Tookey, Jason Death, Jerry SeuSeu, Logan Swann, Ali Lauiti'iti, Kevin Campion (capt); interchange Shontayne Hape, Justin Morgan, Wairangi Koopu, Monty Betham.
Northern Eagles: Brendon Reeves, Robert Miles, Albert Torrens, Andrew King, Ben Walker, Brett Kimmorley, Mark O'Meley, Geoff Toovey (capt), Wayne Evans, Steve Menzies, Adam Muir, Nik Kosef; interchange Paul Stringer, Steve Trindall, Greg Ebrill, Jamie Goddard.
NRL teams - How they line up
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