NRL: Luck upset with tarnished milestone

Anthony Watmough of Manly loses the ball in a tackle by Michael Luck of the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

This time there was only a trickle of blood running down his forehead but Micheal Luck still wore a pained expression in the aftermath of another forlorn NRL excursion to Brookvale Oval.

The New Zealand Warriors' defensive rock ended up in a Sydney hospital ward after his thigh was slashed by the studs of a Manly Sea Eagles opponent the previous time the teams met in round 24 August, so last night's blood trail was inconsequential.

But the 20-10 loss still hurt the rugged Queenslander as he reflected on an unmemorable 200th game in first grade.

Luck, as usual, topped the tackle count alongside rookie Elijah Taylor though their combined efforts - and try-savers by Lance Hohaia and Shaun Berrigan - were unable to prevent Manly closing out an efficient victory.

The concession of three tries within eight minutes as halftime loomed proved critical as Manly, with Kiwis international Kieran Foran influential at five-eighth, built the decisive buffer.

Wings Michael Oldfield, Michael Robertson and second rower Jamie Buhrer crossed in quick succession and when former Kiwis second rower Joe Galuvao touched down in the 54th minute, Manly had the sixth round encounter wrapped up at 20-4.

"It was a pretty good arm wrestle for the first 30 minutes and then they were a bit smarter than us before halftime," Luck said.

"That's the game right there. It was six-all in the second half."

The end of the Warriors' mini-revival after wins against Cronulla and the Sydney Roosters has already had repercussions - and more could follow.

They lost centre Shaun Berrigan in the 57th minute - scans revealed two broken bones in his left hand before it was encased in a cast.

And the NRL will decide tomorrow whether the Warriors will be hit with a third breach notice this season after Jeremy Latimore was included in the run on side despite being named on the interchange bench - a contravention of the rules.

The Warriors were fined a combined A$5000 after last week's win over the Roosters for delaying the kick off by three minutes; trainer Ruben Wiki was also censured for his minor role in an on-field altercation.

Warriors head coach Ivan Cleary insisted Latimore was always designated to start for the injured prop Jacob Lillyman, although the team sheet suggested otherwise.

Another financial penalty is arguably the least of Cleary's worries after he admitted his side were outplayed in the wet.

"Our kick-chase let us down, we got stung every time we didn't do a good one," he said.

The restart after Manly's opening try to Oldfield was also costly when Krisnan Inu's kick went dead to gift the hosts field position - and the platform for Robertson's four-pointer.

With an ominous Anzac Day clash with the in-form Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park looming finding a replacement for Berrigan was a priority.

Jerome Ropati is already unavailable with a season-ending knee injury so out of favour Joel Moon could be promoted from reserve grade or Inu moved in from the flank.

"The injury to Shaun .... we'll have to work that out and see who goes where," Cleary said.

The Storm thumped the Warriors by 34 points 12 months ago, days after they were stripped of two premierships for salary cap breaches, and Luck realised his side were in for another tough assignment.

"We have to recognise what we did wrong and fix it because we're coming up against a pretty good outfit," he said.

"You can't fault anyone's effort, everyone's trying their best but we have to be smarter about what we do."

The Warriors are only outside the top eight on points differential and with games against Penrith and the Gold Coast coming up at Mt Smart Luck said they must make home advantage count.

"The season's only young but we have to turn it around pretty quick or it will start to get away from us," he said.

- NZPA