The Warriors remain three points out of the eight with plenty yet to come over the course of the weekend, so it’s too early to completely bring the curtain down on the side’s top eight chances. But if they weren’t already in must-win territory before the Eels clash, they’re certainly there now.
With the return of Johnson (Achilles) and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (calf) from long layoffs, the Warriors, on paper, looked well poised to build upon last week’s performance as more of their first-choice players became available. However, the Warriors barely challenged the Eels’ defence, despite having plenty of opportunities in good attacking positions – bagging a few consolation tries in the final 10 minutes to ease the margin.
Defensively, they started strong but errors and discipline soon allowed the Eels to get some momentum and the visitors exploited gaps in the Warriors line too often on their way to their highest score – and first win – in seven games.
It all started so well for the Warriors. Much like in last weekend’s win over the Wests Tigers, the hosts dominated the possession and territory in the opening 10 minutes as they had success with ball in hand and limited the Eels with some strong defence.
But they came away from that period with nothing to show for it; never posing a genuine threat to the Eels’ line during that stretch.
When the tide turned, it did so quickly.
An error on a fifth-tackle play gave the Eels a seven-tackle set. A penalty gave them a helping hand up the field. A ruck infringement gave them a fresh set of six, and winger Jake Tago soon dived over in the corner to open the scoring in the 18th minute.
That buoyed the Eels and when Joey Lussick took advantage of some lazy Warriors defence to scoot 10m from dummy half and score with relative ease, the hosts found themselves behind 12-0 after 23 minutes. That opportunity for the Eels followed a similar pattern; an error followed by a ruck infringement gifting the visitors full sets in striking range.
A penalty for a shot on Warriors captain Mitch Barnett opened the door for the home side to strike back with a full set in a good attacking position and they crossed through Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who finished off a sweeping backline move.
But the Eels were in again just before halftime, again catching the Warriors’ defence lacking as Clint Gutherson sent halfback Daejarn Asi through a gaping hole from a goal-line drop-out from about 30m out.
Trailing 18-4 at halftime, the Warriors looked to have struck first when Marata Niukore knocked a bomb to Ali Leiataua, who powered over the stripe. But Niukore’s involvement was ruled to have gone forward and the try was scrubbed from the ledger.
Instead, the Eels extended their lead on the back of linebreaks on the edges. First, left centre Blaize Talagi ran a great line to shoot through and score from close range, before a break on the other side of the field led to a Gutherson try to push the score to 30-4 with just under 20 minutes to play.
While the Warriors crossed late through Nicoll-Klokstad, Niukore and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, it was mere consolation as the Eels ended a six-game losing streak.
NZ Warriors 20 (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Marata Niukore, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak tries; Shaun Johnson con, Chanel Harris-Tavita con)
Parramatta Eels 30 (Jake Tago, Joey Lussick, Daejarn Asi, Blaize Talagi, Clint Gutherson tries; Gutherson 5 cons)
HT: 4-18
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
