KEY POINTS:
Warriors 28
Tigers 16
The New Zealand Warriors will sweat on the NRL match review committee's decision today after Wade McKinnon's controversial sending-off soured their win over Wests Tigers here yesterday.
McKinnon was marched a minute from fulltime for allegedly kneeing the Tigers' Taniela Tuiaki on the ground, as the five-tries-to-four win kept the Warriors on track for their first playoff appearance since 2003.
A stunned coach Ivan Cleary hoped the decision wouldn't cost them McKinnon's services for Saturday's crucial home game against Newcastle.
"I'm disappointed in the decision because I couldn't see anything. All I know is he got sent off for a knee when I didn't see a knee. It's an extremely big call to make in any game."
Cleary said his star fullback was "pretty upset" at the call, which happened minutes after a punch-up with the Tigers' Chris Heighington.
The match review committee will decide today whether to charge McKinnon, who was suspended early this year for two weeks for pushing referee Jason Robinson.
Centre Jerome Ropati, one of the Warriors' try-scorers, is also under the microscope after being placed on report for a lifting tackle.
Cleary didn't want the incidents to detract from a gutsy win before 14,000 fans at Campbelltown Stadium, usually a graveyard for visiting teams.
Fresh from rattling seven tries past St George-Illawarra, the confident Warriors put the game beyond doubt at 22-4 at halftime with a four-try burst in the space of 18 minutes.
The first two tries to halfback Grant Rovelli were set up by hooker George Gatis, the second when he burst from dummy half 60m out.
Ropati made it 16-4 from a flurry of Warriors passes including an overhead offload from five-eighth Michael Witt. Witt made it 28 consecutive NRL goals when he converted from the right-hand touchline.
But his run ended just before halftime when Wairangi Koopu scored the Warriors' fourth after more quick hands, a suspicion of a forward pass from Ropati, and a clever chip and chase from wing Michael Crockett.
Witt's attempted goal from out wide drifted just to the left.
The Warriors defended stoutly in the second half against a mounting penalty count.
They snuffed out any hope of a Tigers comeback when Micheal Luck capped a strong game, steaming onto a McKinnon short ball to score beside the posts in the 54th minute.
"The competition's jam-packed and the win was probably worth four points," captain Steve Price said. "We needed to catch the group that's above us and stay with them."
It drew the previously seventh-placed Warriors level with the Tigers on 20 competition points.
With six rounds remaining, the Warriors need at least three more wins to ensure their top-eight playoff spot.
"We did it very well until the last five minutes," said Cleary after two late Tigers tries closed the gap.
Tigers coach Tim Sheens said refereeing decisions played a big part in the result. He bemoaned video referee Bill Harrigan denying Kiwis centre Paul Whatuira and Ben Te'o disputed tries, and the forward pass that led to Koopu's try.
Meanwhile, Sheens confirmed the Tigers' Kiwis star Benji Marshall would likely return from shoulder surgery for next weekend's home match against North Queensland.
- NZPA
