The Warriors gave their home fans plenty to celebrate against the Bulldogs. Photo / Photosport
The Warriors gave their home fans plenty to celebrate against the Bulldogs. Photo / Photosport
Warriors captain Tohu Harris said Friday's win over the Bulldogs was probably their most complete performance of the season, as the team finally put it together.
It has all come way too late, in what has been a mostly forgettable campaign, which has left them only playing for pride overthe last two months.
But after the sorry scenes last Saturday against the Rabbitohs – when the contest was quickly over – things could have unravelled badly.
However, they found their mojo against a dogged Canterbury Bankstown team, in a forceful, focused display, to win 42-18, capped by a late flourish.
"Off the top of my head it'd be pretty close [to the best performance]," said Harris. "Our home game against the Tigers was defensively probably one of our best. But in terms of our attitude and our effort [Friday] was probably the longest we've had it, the closest to a full 80 minutes we have played."
"Our attitude was completely different right from the outset," admitted Harris.
A lot of credit needs to go to coach Stacey Jones and his staff, who got the recipe just right, given the travel and a short turnaround, off the back of the Rabbitohs humiliation, where the 48-10 scoreline could have been a lot worse.
"You can't fix a lot of structure [but] you can fix attitude in a week," said Jones, though he admitted he didn't foresee such a convincing display.
"Not off the back of last week. We were trying to do small things first, but our leaders were outstanding. They were the ones that we put it on straight after the [Rabbitohs] game. They put their hand up and when they play well everyone else follows."
Harris (234 running metres) and Addin Fonua-Blake (202m) were relentless in the middle, while Wayde Egan and Euan Aitken also set high standards - but there were strong contributors everywhere.
The Warriors were on song from the start, with three tries in the first 18 minutes. They could have had two or three more before halftime, as they parked in Canterbury territory, but some impressive scrambling defence and an inability to find the final killer pass restricted the halftime advantage to 12 points.
That looked short, especially when the Bulldogs jagged two tries just after the interval to level the scores.
Given the pattern of this season, there was a feeling of déjà vu among the 16,212 crowd and some frazzled faces in the coaching box, wondering if another fade was coming.
"It's in the back your mind," said Jones. "The pleasing thing was that when things don't go our way we usually fall into a bit of a hole, but we went the other way."
The Bulldogs were bouncing, while Matt Burton was starting to find his range with his wicked spiralling punts.
But the home side responded quickly, restoring their advantage through Eliesa Katoa's 56th minute try before completely dominating the final quarter.
Eliesa Katoa celebrates his try. Photo / Photosport
Twice they went close – as the bunker correctly overruled – before the three-try blitz in the last six minutes put an exclamation mark on the performance.
The result continued a theme at Mt Smart this year.
For all the woes in 2022, the team has performed well in Auckland, giving faint signs of hope for next season.
"Definitely, once the team gets back in some routine," said Jones. "Look at Tohu, his family is here, I know he plays better, he's in a better mood when he's around his family.
"[Friday's] performance was off the back of players bringing energy but it's also off the back playing in front of your crowd and what they bring too."
