Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf watches his match-winning penalty kick against the Broncos. Photo: / Photosport
Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf watches his match-winning penalty kick against the Broncos. Photo: / Photosport
When the opportunity presented itself, Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf didn’t hesitate.
Not even for a second. Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh had just sent his kickoff long to start golden point extra time, giving the Warriors a penalty on halfway, with the scores locked at 18-18. Conventional wisdom might suggest the better option would be to kick for territory and then set for a field goal – but Metcalf only had one idea in his head.
“I probably would have been the first one with the hands up [for] the two,” said Metcalf. “Straight away there was no other thought in my mind [than] to kick it.”
Even though Metcalf had a decent breeze at his back, it was a difficult scenario. He had never kicked a goal from that far out – not even in training – and had struggled all night off the tee, missing three conversions and a penalty, albeit mostly from wide out. But he didn’t want to shrink in the shadows.
“You’ve just got to trust yourself,” explained Metcalf. “I know I’m good at it, just stay present at the moment and just know as long as I follow my process and it’s going to come eventually.”
“They’re the moments that you want to step up for,” said Metcalf. “They’re the moments that you dream of when you’re a kid and you go down the park. That’s something that I always used to talk to Shaun [Johnson] about.”
Luke Metcalf celebrates with Warriors fans. Photo / Photosport
After placing the ball, Metcalf took a few paces back, trying to clear his head, to focus on his technique, rather than the outcome, while an eerie silence settled over the 22,395 crowd inside Go Media Stadium.
But his strike was clean and true, sailing through the posts with plenty to spare. Metcalf imitated NBA star Damien Lillard in his celebration – chased by joyous teammates – as Brisbane counterpart Adam Reynolds watched on in admiration.
“Obviously there was a lot of pressure on him to execute at that time,” said Reynolds. “They had a big wind behind them, so I knew he had the distance. It was just the direction. He wasn’t hitting them too sweet, so it’s a brave call on his behalf to put his hand up and want to have the shot [but] he nailed it.”
Warriors coach Andrew Webster agreed with that assessment.
“He had complete confidence in himself,” said Webster of Metcalf. “There were a couple of moments where he missed goals that he probably would have been worried about but he backed his work. He works hard at it and you get the rewards.”
The victory was built on hard work, tough defence and resilience.
The Warriors trailed early – then had to withstand significant pressure – before getting a foothold in the match with Leka Halasima’s 30th-minute try.
They dodged some bullets in the first half, with Brisbane coach Michael Maguire admitting his team hadn’t been particularly smart with their execution, before the Warriors took control after halftime as their attack started to look more threatening.
Three unanswered tries in 14 minutes to Ed Kosi, Metcalf and Marata Niukore meant most in the crowd were already celebrating victory before Brisbane’s unlikely comeback, sealed by Walsh’s try with six minutes to play.
Kurt Capewell of the Warriors threw a clutch pass to set up Luke Metcalf's try. Photo / Photosport
“It was momentum – the Broncos got it back,” said Metcalf. “They’re a good team - they won’t go down without a fight.”
Metcalf had two attempts at field goals in the final minutes – one charged down and one wide, under pressure, before the fateful moment at the start of golden point extra time.
Webster was thrilled with his team’s attitude and endeavour, along with the ability to adjust with a makeshift line-up.
“We deserved it,” said Webster. ”We made it hard, but I was really proud. We didn’t drop our bundle; three or four times we could have thrown the towel in, but we kept finding a way."
“We were the better team for long periods. We weren’t the smartest team but we were certainly the hungrier team to win and our actions showed that.”
“We were playing for more than ourselves,” the captain said. “We needed to represent him and all our old boys well and we did that with a great defensive effort.”
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.
