Warriors 30 Bulldogs 24
Game-breaking winger Manu Vatuvei faces another spell on the sidelines - but coach Ivan Cleary has no regrets about rushing his star player into the Warriors side that beat the Bulldogs on Saturday night.
Vatuvei scored a try and made several telling breaks before limping off shortly after halftime, having
aggravated the hamstring injury he suffered against the Broncos in round three.
"Put it this way: I am pretty happy we got the two points," Cleary said.
"But if I thought he was going to not make it, I wouldn't have played him. To be honest, it was always a bit of a risk.
"The easy thing would have been to wait until next week, but we really thought we had a good chance to win."
There was a touch of shock and awe about Vatuvei's dramatic late call-up.
"It was without a doubt a boost for our team and maybe it got the opposition a little nervous as well."
Vatuvei's injury was not a "classic hamstring thing", Cleary said. The winger had run freely just eight days after limping off against Brisbane and had seemed ready to play on Saturday.
"It is a bit puzzling.
"He is so big and runs so quick, it is not always easy to work out what is going on there. But it is obviously a bit of a worry."
Vatuvei has already been ruled out of Sunday's home match against Penrith, although given Saturday night's resurrection, that should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
His presence was certainly a factor in a strong first half, but the big winger was long gone by the time the Warriors claimed victory with a last-minute try by running the ball on the sixth tackle.
Lance Hohaia's score from a deflected Lewis Brown kick was a fitting end to a match in which the Warriors flung the ball around with abandon before settling down once the Bulldogs erased a 24-12 deficit with two tries in the space of three minutes.
Just as they did against Brisbane a fortnight ago, the Warriors killed the Bulldogs with offloads, a statistic they dominated 28-6.
But the keep-the-ball-alive policy was also almost their undoing, with several botched, expansive early-tackle plays inviting the Bulldogs back into a contest the Warriors could have won at a canter.
"It was a game where we did so much good stuff but were our own worst enemies at times," Cleary said.
"Sometimes our risk-reward is a little bit out of whack. We have to get better at making the right selection, but certainly in terms of philosophy I am happy for them to play what they see."
They may not be perfect - or even close to it just yet - but the Warriors can't be accused of recommitting last year's cardinal sin of playing dull, unimaginative footy. They are far from boring.
The lack of respect for possession at key times has irked Cleary, but he has otherwise been pleased with the style of play produced so far this season.
"I've always encouraged positive play. The boys are pretty confident, and that always helps," he said.
The coach was most pleased with the way the team fought back to win after coughing up a healthy lead.
"We had to halt their momentum, which they had plenty of, and grind our way to the end - which was something we hadn't done for the [first] 60 minutes.
"To be able to do that and then get the reward of the try at the end was hopefully something we can bottle and take down the track a bit."
Hohaia may have grabbed the winning try, but fullback Wade McKinnon - restored to the starting line-up following a backline reshuffle that saw Hohaia switch to five-eighth - was also instrumental in the victory.
A succession of try-saving McKinnon tackles kept the Bulldogs at bay, but the home side will also be ruing a late, missed field-goal attempt by Brett Kimmorley.
"[McKinnon] has always been one of those guys that gives you everything he has got, but his strengths have certainly been in the offensive department," Cleary said.
"But [defence] is something he has really worked hard on, and on Saturday night he came up with some really big plays to keep us in the game."
The win lifted the Warriors to fifth, with the club having posted a commendable 3-2 record from a challenging run of fixtures. "When you look at the draw, the whole thing is tough, but two away wins out of three - you've got to be happy with that."
