The Warriors have been handed a brutal reality check as their unbeaten start to the NRL season came to a crashing halt.
They went down 32-14 to the Wests Tigers, who snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Warriors and claimed their first win inAuckland since 2016.
To put it in context, their coach Benji Marshall was in the side that played when the Tigers last beat the Warriors. The result also shows they are more than capable of competing for a finals spot, having last made the top eight in 2011.
The Tigers also battled back from a 10-0 deficit late in the first half. Adam Doueihi provided the spark they needed with a clinical display as their influential leader, Jarome Luai, was absent.
For the Warriors, it will be a tough pill to swallow, given their start to the season when they were near faultless.
Five-eighth Luke Metcalf was a welcome addition back to the side, but struggled to make a huge impact in his first match back from an ACL injury, while the Tigers’ defence did an excellent job limiting the impact of Tanah Boyd, Jackson Ford and James Fisher-Harris.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster pulled a late switch, dropping Ali Leiataua to the reserves, allowing Taine Tuaupiki to start at fullback and moving Charne Nicoll-Klokstad to the centres.
Metcalf received a loud cheer when he ran on to the field and the Warriors were forced to do some early defending on their line.
Luke Metcalf in his comeback match for the Warriors. Photo / Photosport
The move to switch Nicoll-Klokstad to the centres paid off as he slid over in the corner to open the scoring, the first time the Warriors have scored first this season.
Boyd then set up Jacob Laban, holding the ball long enough before passing for his edge forward to burst through.
Adam Pompey was sent to the sin bin for a careless penalty when he took Faaletina Tavana out after he caught the ball for a 20m restart and despite some tense moments, the Warriors were lucky not to concede any points while he was off the field.
The Warriors had the bulk of momentum but struggled to close out the half, as the Tigers struck three times through Tavana, Kai Pearce-Paul and Royce Hunt to take a shock 16-10 lead at the break.
The Warriors had multiple chances to score early in the second half but couldn’t find the magic touch needed to get back in the match.
Doueihi then silenced the 24,246 crowd when he made another break and Jahreem Bula pounced to score their fourth.
Nicoll-Klokstad hit back in the final 10 minutes, but after Boyd missed the conversion they still required two more tries to have any chance of winning. Instead, it was the Tigers who closed out the match in style with Jock Madden and Sunia Turuva putting the icing on the cake in a memorable win.
Having had three of their first four games at home, the Warriors now face a daunting road trip. Next Sunday they play the Cronulla Sharks before facing the Melbourne Storm, a side they haven’t beaten in more than a decade.
