League: Warriors claim victory in trial match

Mason Lino. Photo / Photosport

The New Zealand Warriors have kicked off their 2018 campaign with a hard-fought 20-14 NRL trial win over the Melbourne Storm at Rotorua International Stadium this afternoon.

The four-tries-to-three victory saw Warriors Tongan World Cup test stars Solomone Kata and David Fusitu'a score in the first-half, with senior forward Ligi Sao crossing in the third quarter, before youngster Lewis Soosemea sealed the result with their final try with 10 minutes remaining.

The Storm opened the scoring with a try to right wing Matt Sopa-Lowler, but it took until the third quarter before they nabbed another through hooker Harry Grant, while wing Ryan Papenhuyzen raced in a long-range effort with four minutes left on the clock.

Both sides fielded second-string 22-man squads with the Warriors missing eight of their first-choice players and the understrength Storm side consisting of youngsters from the second-tier Queensland Cup, with the reigning premiers' big guns remaining at home to play in last night's 38-4 World Club Challenge win over Super League champions Leeds Rhinos at AAMI Park.

The inexperienced visitors were boosted by the presence of former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith, who was wearing Melbourne club attire while working in a non-paying consultancy role assisting stand-in coach Jason Ryles.

Smith's involvement continues a long association with the Storm through his close friendships with Storm head coach Craig Bellamy, football manager Frank Ponissi and club owner Bart Campbell.

Both teams utilised the unlimited interchange to rotate players and try out different combinations with the Warriors fielding an experienced starting side featuring captain and halfback Mason Lino partner with Tongan World Cup five-eighth Ata Hingano.

New recruit and Kiwis international Peta Hiku played strongly in his club debut at right centre alongside Fusitu'a, before replacing Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad at fullback for the second-quarter.

Warriors forward Agnatius Paasi, in his first game back at the club after a stint with the Gold Coast Titans, departed early in the match after suffering a medial strain, with medical staff due to asses the injury again in the morning.

Both teams lacked fluency early on but Melbourne opened the scoring with Sopa-Lowler finishing a long-range move for the first try in the fourth minute.

The Warriors squandered some early attacking chances and took time to warm into their work before Hingano laid on a no-look pass for Kata to barge over down the short side to level the scores at the end of the opening quarter, after three consecutive sets on the opposition line.

Their momentum continued after the restart with Hiku sizing up a three-on-two overlap and quick-hands from Ayshford sending Fusitu'a diving in for a trademark try in the right corner.

The home team extended their lead four minutes into the third quarter with Lino threading a grubber through from dummy-half for Sao to score, but they were made to pay for some sloppy defence when Grant scampered out of dummy-half to help the Storm back within six points heading into the last quarter.

Rotorua Boys High School first XV product Hayze Perham made his Warriors club debut at fullback in the third quarter and the youngster looked composed as coach Stephen Kearney relied on mostly second-tier Intrust Super Premiership players to close the game out.

Soosemea's try did just that although the Storm showed typically strong spirit to the end with Papenhuyzen's try giving them a sniff at the death.

The Warriors cap their pre-season preparations with a second and final trial against the Gold Coast Titans on the Sunshine Coast next Saturday.

Warriors 20 (Solomone Kata, David Fusitu'a, Ligi Sao, Lewis Soosemea tries, Mason Lino 2 cons)
Storm 14 (Matt Sopa-Lowler, Harry Grant, Ryan Papenhuyzen tries, Scott Drinkwater con)

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