They got the win in front of the Mt Smart faithful, a 29-22 comeback effort, but it wasn’t without concerns. The Warriors conceded the opening points inside two minutes after a sloppy turnover, and were on the wrong side of both the penalty and error counts.
Manly – a side playing to keep their season alive – also exploited some defensive holes the top teams in the competition will feast upon come finals.
Those will overshadow the good work from the Warriors as they look to peak for the postseason – tonight’s win guaranteeing the Warriors a spot in the top eight, though their targets should be far loftier than simply making the eight.
Centre Rocco Berry continued to show his improvement this season with a quality performance, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak’s full range of finishing abilities was on display, Addin Fonua-Blake was a workhorse up front, while the Warriors kept Manly scoreless in the second half.
Reflective of how they started the season, the Warriors went immediately on the back foot when Bunty Afoa overran the pass from Wayde Egan and knocked on just the second carry of the game. Manly five-eighth Jake Arthur – a late inclusion in the run-on side – went over moments later, brushing off some half-hearted defence before stretching out for the first points inside the opening two minutes.
It began a trend in a high-scoring first half in which the teams capitalised on opposition errors. Of the seven tries scored in the opening 40 minutes, each one came in a set immediately following an opposition error or penalty.
The Warriors led their visitors in penalties conceded and errors in the first stanza, and that was reflected in the scoreline.
The hosts did manage to take a stranglehold of the game inside the opening 20 minutes, despite the terrible start. It began with a show-and-go from Tohu Harris close to the line; Adam Pompey again deputising in the goal-kicking duties for Shaun Johnson who is nursing a leg injury.
He was soon followed by a Watene-Zelezniak double; the first a trademark diving finish in the corner, the second a dazzling display of footwork and strength to beat defenders and barge over. With three tries in 10 minutes and a 16-6 lead, it looked like the Warriors were poised to run away with the game.
They didn’t score another point in the half.
Instead, Manly exploited a constant hole on the Warriors left edge, with winger Jason Saab scoring a 20-minute hat-trick – able to slide in untouched on all three tries. The third was a little questionable as it appeared a Manly teammate had got a thumb to the ball to propel it forward before it fell to Saab, but the Bunker deemed the available replays insufficient to overturn the on-field call of a try, and Manly took the lead into halftime.
It felt as though the first points of the second half had the potential to shape the game, and while Manly made a strong start after the restart, it was the visitors who cracked first – Watene-Zelezniak capping off a hat-trick of his own. That try took his season tally to 21 – closing in on David Fusitu’a’s single-season club record of 23 set in 2018.
It wasn’t until the final 10 minutes that the Warriors took the lead back. A Daly Cherry-Evans drop goal attempt was charged down, and Reuben Garrick knocked the ball on when regathering as he was hit in the air by Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad. It appeared to be a mid-air tackle from the Warriors fullback, but the referee ruled there was no possession as the ricochet hadn’t completely been regathered and because Garrick landed on his back it wasn’t dangerous.
Manly captain Cherry-Evans appeared flummoxed by the decision, but the Warriors went straight to work and scored through Marata Niukore; a late Johnson drop goal wrapping the side’s 15th win of the season.
Warriors 29 (Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3, Tohu Harris, Marata Niukore tries; Adam Pompey 4 cons; Shaun Johnson drop goal)
Manly Sea Eagles 22 (Jason Saab 3, Jake Arthur tries; Reuben Garrick 3 cons)
HT: 16-22
