THE FACTS
It was far from pretty, but it’s a result the New Zealand Warriors desperately needed to get their season back on track.
Having lost five of their last seven games, and three straight in Auckland, they will happily take the 14-10 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons to the bank, which in theory should be enough for them to secure a spot in the playoffs, with the ninth-placed Redcliffe Dolphins six points behind.
It will be the second time in three seasons Warriors coach Andrew Webster has led his side to the finals and just the third time in the past 14 seasons. Overall, this will be their 10th finals appearance.
At this time of the season, confidence and momentum, two things the Warriors have lacked of late, are a requisite if they are to make a run in the finals.
With the playoffs picture becoming clearer after each passing game, the hope for the Warriors is that even though it’s a performance they’d rather forget, it will put them back on track after a treacherous three months.
Many players didn’t have their best games, but to come away with the win is a big boost. Late in the game, they were barely hanging on but continued to work for each other.
Sometimes it’s hard work that gets you over the line and that’s what happened.
The match summed up the Warriors’ season. They stuck in the game and found a way to win. The Warriors have played in 10 games this season decided by six points or less. They’ve won eight of them.
One big change in the Warriors’ performance was the impact of Wayde Egan, who had missed the past two games through injury.
While Sam Healey did an excellent job filling the void, he’s still young and lacks the experience that Egan brings.
Egan’s ability to pick and choose his moments to run helped his side against the Dragons as he won numerous “six again” calls for catching the ruck markers offside.
One thing the Warriors have lacked this season is points, but when they are playing fast through the middle, Egan is always heavily involved and that’s when they look their best.
Having been dropped last week, halfback Tanah Boyd brought more of a running game, which also helped unlock Chanel Harris-Tavita, who scored the Warriors’ opening try.
With no Mitch Barnett or Luke Metcalf for the remainder of the season, how far the Warriors can go into the season could depend on Egan staying fit.
Having slipped out of the top four for the first time since round six, the Warriors bounced straight back in thanks to their win and the Penrith Panthers’ golden-point loss to the Melbourne Storm.
But with three weeks left, the race for that final top-four spot is only getting hotter.
Right now, the Warriors are holding on, but by the time they run out against the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday, they could already be sitting sixth.
The Cronulla Sharks have the bye and, with a superior points differential, will leapfrog the Warriors into fourth before a ball is kicked in round 25. Meanwhile, a Panthers win at home over the table-topping Canberra Raiders could see them climb above the Warriors too.
In a worst-case scenario, if the Warriors lose and the Brisbane Broncos knock over the struggling Newcastle Knights, Webster’s men could tumble as low as seventh – and suddenly be in a real scrap just to stay in the eight.
The best case? Beat the Titans, keep their advantage, and crank up the pressure on the chasing pack.
The equation is simple. Win.
It’s hard to know if a scratchy performance builds confidence, but the Warriors did what mattered most, banking the two points.
Sometimes you just flush the dunny and move on, or turn the page – cheesy sporting cliches, but exactly what Webster will be telling his side after that effort.
The Warriors were far from their best, riddled with errors and trailing for most of the game, yet they still found a way to win. Two late tries from Adam Pompey - who went from zero to hero after being burned by Mat Feagai in the first half – got them home.
Even when the Dragons threatened with a couple of late line breaks, the Warriors refused to fold. That resilience has been their hallmark this season, with the Dolphins slip-up a fortnight ago the rare exception.
It wasn’t pretty, but finals footy rarely is. If the Warriors are going to make a run, winning ugly like this might just be the blueprint.
After a very scrappy effort, it is hard to say if they have found their confidence again, but the team would be feeling better knowing they ended up with the two points.
The pleasing aspect is that the Warriors had to come back from 10-0 down to secure the win.
Webster will be relieved to have banked the two points against the Dragons, but he’ll be scratching his head over how to replace Jackson Ford for the final three games.
The prop has been hit with a suspension for a crusher tackle, and his poor disciplinary record only added weight to the punishment. An early guilty plea means three games on the sideline; fight it and lose, and it becomes four.
With Mitch Barnett already gone for the season with an ACL injury, Ford had stepped up, taking on more responsibility in a new middle-forward role, and that workload will be tough to cover.
Against the Dragons, he churned through a team-high 53 tackles and 18 runs for 157m.
Kurt Capewell’s return from a head knock makes one option straightforward: shift Niukore to prop. The concern is Niukore doesn’t match Ford’s workrate in the middle.
Alternatively, Webster could start Demitric Vaimauga, who has mainly been used off the bench. That could open the door for Tom Ale to finally get his first NRL run of the year after strong showings in the New South Wales Cup, or for Bunty Afoa to get a farewell cameo.
It remains one of the NRL’s strangest hoodoos: the Titans always seem to get up for the Warriors.
In their past three meetings, Gold Coast have been anchored to the bottom of the ladder and still walked away with wins.
The two teams squared off less than a month ago, with the Titans winning 24-16, and have since suffered three straight defeats, although highly controversial moments did cost them victory against the Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
The Des Hasler-Kieran Foran factor looms large as to why they seem to perform against the Warriors. Hasler has 24 wins from 33 games against the Warriors, while Foran has only lost four times in 19 appearances against his former club.
On paper, a trip to the Gold Coast should feel like a home fixture for the Warriors. Instead, it’s been a haunted house. Last season, they were belted 66-6 – their equal-worst defeat in history. In 2021, they copped a 44-point hiding in a fiery clash that saw three players binned for fighting, a true low point of the Covid era.
With Capewell, Te Maire Martin and Rocco Berry all set to return, the Warriors should finally break the streak. But given the history between these two clubs, nothing can be taken for granted.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.