The Warriors were beaten by the Manly Sea Eagles. Photo / Photosport
Warriors 26
Manly Sea Eagles 27
In terms of an NRL finals dress rehearsal, this wasn’t a great scenario for the Warriors.
Not only did they fall to the Manly Sea Eagles on Friday night – setting up the hardest possible week-one equation in the playoffs – but they also lost two more players to injury, including luckless centre Rocco Berry.
There were some good moments – including the fastest try in NRL history – but overall it was another sweet and sour performance in the 27-26 defeat.
They showed steel to come back from an awful first quarter, but will need to improve considerably to be competitive against four-time defending champions Penrith, who will be their opponents in the sixth versus seventh clash, assuming the Panthers beat St George-Illawarra today (5pm). If they fall to the Dragons, the Warriors will face the Roosters.
For that match the Warriors will be without Berry, who left the stadium in an ambulance after dislocating his shoulder inside five minutes, while promising forward Eddie Ieremia-Toeava (shoulder) was a second-half casualty.
In his 352nd match, Daly Cherry-Evans got his farewell victory, capping the night with a left-footed field goal.
Seeking momentum ahead of the playoffs, the Warriors were unconvincing overall. Berry’s injury was a major complication – as Leka Halasima had to play 75 minutes at centre – but they needed to be better.
They scored a few smart tries with some of their best attacking work of recent weeks, but their defence was sloppy and errors were again costly.
The Warriors made an unbelievable start, crossing for the fastest try in NRL – and surely rugby league – history. James Fisher-Harris was over with only nine seconds on the clock, after an error from the kickoff from Cherry-Evans. The Manly skipper let the ball bounce, before it rebounded off Jason Saab into the disbelieving arms of Fisher-Harris.
Cherry-Evans quickly atoned, with a booming 40-20 kick, with Lehi Hopoate scoring in the next set. It was an awful moment for the Warriors; not only did Berry and Watene-Zelezniak get their positioning completely wrong but Berry then dislocated his shoulder in a desperate attempt at a second-effort tackle.
The rest of the first quarter was a siege. The Warriors only completed four sets – with a couple of costly errors, including a stone-cold knock-on by Fisher-Harris, along with some yardage penalties. That compounded the pressure, with Jake Simpkin and Hopoate adding further tries for Manly, though there was doubt about Simpkin’s effort, as he appeared to be held up.
It could have got ugly, but the Warriors defence stiffened, while Manly were also careless with a couple of opportunities.
That allowed the visitors to get back into the contest. Watene-Zelezniak went close, before eventually crossing in the 35th minute after smart play by Nicoll-Klokstad, who delivered a beautiful looping pass after holding up the defence.
After working so hard to get back into the match, everything unravelled for the Warriors early in the second half. Luke Brooks went straight through the front door to score in the 42nd minute – beating some middle forwards before swerving past Nicoll-Klokstad, then Ethan Bullemor was in after the Warriors’ fullback couldn’t take a precise bomb.
The Warriors then produced probably their best attacking sequence of the night, ending with Nicoll-Klokstad crossing out wide, after some sharp passing, though Boyd missed the handy conversion with 25 minutes to play.
The final quarter was messy from both sides, though Healey – who was excellent – got a deserved close-range try. Watene-Zelezniak then dived over for a consolation score on the hooter, off a crisp Boyd pass, but Cherry-Evans had had the deciding say with his 75th-minute field goal.
Warriors 26 (Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 2, James Fisher-Harris, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Sam Healey tries; Tanah Boyd 3 cons)
Sea Eagles 27 (Lehi Hopoate, Jake Simpkin, Lehi Hopoate, Luke Brooks, Ethan Bullemor tries; Daly Cherry-Evans 3 cons, field goal)
HT: 10-14