The Warriors showed tremendous grit to hold off the Broncos 30-20 in an entertaining clash at Mt Smart Stadium back in Round 9.
The Broncos dominated the opening quarter and looked in control when leading 10-6 before halfback Shaun Johnson’s try off a spilled Gerard Beale bomb on the half hour edged the home side ahead 12-10. Back-to-back converted tries in the final five minutes of the first half catapulted the Warriors to a commanding 24-10 advantage at oranges.
Ben Te’o got the Broncos back into the match when he crashed over on the right edge to make it 24-16 with 30 minutes remaining before Feleti Mateo put the issue beyond doubt, punching through the Broncos’ goal-line defence to score with seven minutes left on the clock.
Sam Thaiday scored a flashy consolation try for the visitors as the full-time siren loomed.
It was a remarkable scoreline given the Warriors missed a staggering 47 tackles to the Broncos’ 29, as well as making two metres fewer and one line-break less overall on the night.
However, they built their win on some dazzling second-phase play, dominating the Broncos 13-6 in offloads.
The Warriors’ best players included Manu Vatuvei who made 13 runs, 128 metres and seven tackle busts, while Shaun Johnson added two try assists to go with his four-pointer.
Brisbane were best served by fullback Josh Hoffman, centre Justin Hodges (144 metres and five tackle busts) and hooker Andrew McCullough who made 61 tackles.
