NRL Grand Final: Junior Warriors snatch golden goal

The Junior Warriors celebrate Jordan Meads' golden point drop goal to win the NRL Toyota Cup grand final. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Junior Warriors 31 Cowboys 30

The Junior Warriors scored 1000 points in 2011. In the end they needed every last one of them.

Jordan Meads' golden point field goal following Carlos Tuimavave's surging run saw the Warriors secure their second straight Toyota Cup title, but only a fluffed conversion from unfortunate Cowboys kicker Kyle Feldt saw them avoid one of the great grand final meltdowns.

Leading by 14 points with 10 minutes remaining, the young Warriors hit a massive wall. Their lungs and legs stopped working first, followed in short order by their brains.

Three Cowboys tries in the final 10 should have clinched it for the Cowboys but, cruelly, Feldt couldn't seal the deal.

The Cowboys' winger kicked 101 goals this season and he was odds on to add one more from just to the right of the posts.

"I said 'he is the best kicker in the comp this kid and he is not going to miss'," Junior Warriors coach John Ackland said. "I jinxed him."

Given he received two pain-killing injections before the match and hadn't been able to train all week, Meads' man of the match display was particularly impressive. He showed excellent pace to score his team's opening try and remarkable composure to slot the winning field goal.

They might not have done it quite the way they wanted to but the result is in the book, New Zealand's reputation as the game's prime nursery growing even further.

"Auckland has always been a good nursery," Ackland said. "You go back and have a look at the records against the touring teams - Auckland always beat them." This year's side lacked the silky skills and raw pace of a 2011 incarnation that included now fully fledged NRL stars Shaun Johnson, Glen Fisiiahi and Elijah Taylor, but what they lacked in guile they made up for with brawn.

And it wasn't just the Warriors bristling with young Kiwi talent. The Cowboys' best player Jason Taumalolo, is an Aucklander who has already played for the Junior Kiwis, while their first try scorer, centre John Koko, grew up in Taupo.

The Warriors made a shocking start, conceding a try in the opening minute and another after nine minutes to trail 0-10. They found their feet quickly enough, with Meads and Dylan Collier scoring to erase the deficit.

Centre Konrad Hurrell displayed the strength that has many picking him as a star of the future to barrel over for his 21st try of the season and an Adam Henry try put the Warriors ahead at the break.

Sosaia Feke sent Collier over for his second with a brilliant flick pass and Hurrell's second should have sealed it. The final 10 minutes rapidly spiralled into a nightmare, with Zac Santo's two tries putting the Cowboys within striking distance.

The Warriors seemed to have survived when they forced an error with a minute remaining but, needing only to run down the clock, Sio Siua Takeiaho was stripped by Michael Parker-Walshe on the second tackle.

When Chris Grevsmuhl crashed over three tackles later, the Warriors seemed dead and buried. But Feldt hooked his kick to send the game into extra time and it was Tuimavave and Meads who had the last say.

"The boys have found ways to win all year," said Ackland, "'and [yesterday] they found another one."

Warriors: 31 (Dylan Collier 2, Konrad Hurrell 2, Jordan Meads, Adam Henry tries; Collier 3 gls; Meads fg)

Cowboys: 30 (Chris Grevsmuhl 2, Zachary Santo 2, John Koko, Moses Pangai; Kyle Feldt 3 gls).

HT: 20-16.