The Warriors have reversed their pre-season form of recent years and the poor NRL form of last season to beat Parramatta 20-10 with a good defensive display at New Plymouth yesterday.
They led all the way after centre Tony Martin took an intercept to run 95 metres for the firsttry late in the first 20-minute quarter.
Left centre Clinton Toopi also looked sharp to finish a movement for try two, Martin got his second and wing Francis Meli chimed in to make it four for the backs. The Eels got a second-quarter touchdown to Luke O'Dwyer and former Cowboys second rower Chris Muckert scored consolation points with 90 seconds to go. Warriors coach Tony Kemp was pleased with the effort.
He said the new attitude in the team was shining through. "There is no resemblance to the team from the end of last year. There is a feeling of well-being - you have to get the environment right."
There were no injuries. Captain Steve Price was in New Plymouth running with a strapped right leg after a shin injury, the left knee problem that kept him out of the grand final last year said to be okay.
The next trial is against a President's Selection of Bartercard Cup players at Albany in a fortnight, with the club open day for fans to watch training at the revamped Ericsson Stadium on Saturday.
* The New Zealand Rugby League's sevens team finished second to hosts St Mary's at the Sydney international tournament at the weekend, shading some NRL-studded opposition.
The Kiwis beat Fiji 22-12 and Samoa 24-8 then had a tough encounter with a Sydney-based NZ Maori side to win 22-4 before contesting the final one hour later.
Against what was essentially the Penrith reserve-grade side, they went down 8-22.
