Rugby League: Success tastes 'damn good'

By PETER JESSUP

The Warriors will be firmly ensconced in front of their television sets tonight to see how the Storm perform at home in Melbourne against Penrith.

The Warriors play the Storm in Melbourne next Monday as their season of joy winds up, and could be forgiven for having half an eye on the last round the following weekend, at home against North Queensland, with the opportunity to enjoy a carnival atmosphere at Ericsson Stadium.

With two rounds to go, it is now almost inconceivable that they will miss out on the playoffs after their gruelling 14-8 grinding-down of the Roosters on Saturday, especially given the home-ground form that has brought consecutive wins over top sides.

Co-captain Kevin Campion congratulated the boys in the dressing room afterwards for their defence in the last quarter as the Roosters pressed hard and enjoyed a glut of territory and possession.

It was the sort of defence they will need to make any impression in finals matches.

His offsider, Stacey Jones, rated the last six minutes some of the longest of his life and ranked the match as a defining point in the Warriors' history. For a brief second Jones relaxed.

"It feels pretty damn good," he smiled, and said they had eased the pressure on themselves for the trip to Melbourne, not now desperately needing to win there.

Then he looked across at his coach, Daniel Anderson, whose look back told him to get serious.

The win was again built on smashing forward power and hurting defence, though Anderson felt it was the first time recently another side had matched them physically. And the Warriors came out unscathed, Ivan Cleary (ankle) and David Myles (head knock) both expected to be cleared to play in Melbourne.

Anderson praised Campion's 80-minute effort, the skipper's tackling needed to replace the injured Logan Swann.

The Warriors' props and second rowers made huge ground and backed that with fearsome hits that made the Roosters slow their play-the-ball.

The backs were inventive from the start, offering plenty on attack.

In the first half, the Warriors enjoyed the better ground position and forced turnovers and goal-line drop outs. At the break, 6-8 down after a try each, the only concern was that they should have scored more.

Anderson said he was not worried, that they were in the bash-up and getting the best of it.

It was a special moment four minutes after the break when Wairangi Koopu cut the Roosters' left-side defence at the angle and Jones came through on another angle to take the back-pass off Koopu's hip and slide over.

The scores remained unchanged after that except for a Jones penalty, kicking fullback Cleary off after re-straining an ankle turned against the Sharks the previous week.

Brad Fittler's team came at the Warriors repeatedly, the fans sat on the edge of their seats, but the visitors could not execute.

As the game closed it was the Roosters' big-game cards that folded. Errors and bad options taken by Fittler, Matt Sing, Bryan Fletcher and Adrian Morley could be put down purely to the pressure exerted by the home team.

Half Craig Wing, who scored the Roosters' only try, in the fifth minute, continued to test and surprise the Warriors and when he went off with cramps 15 minutes from the end so did the visitors' chances.

Bookings for Colonial Stadium for the Warriors game against the Storm next week are said to be steady, with plenty of those likely to be from transplanted Kiwis, the away support gathering momentum as wins follow one another.

If they win away, the last game against the Cowboys at Ericsson offers the Warriors the chance to avoid the first-versus-eighth playoff that comes automatically under the NRL's McIntyre finals system.

However, they cannot claim a top-four spot that would earn a home playoff.

The run home for others:


Broncos (27 pts): Canberra at home, Eagles at Gosford.
Dragons (26 pts): Roosters away, Bulldogs away.
Roosters (25 pts): Dragons at home, Eels away.
Northern Eagles (23 pts): Eels at Parramatta, Broncos at Gosford.
Storm (20 pts): Panthers at Melbourne, Warriors at Melbourne, Canberra away.