The Warriors recovered from a slow start and an early 12-0 deficit to secure an impressive 18-16 win over Manly at Mt Smart Stadium in Round 13.
The early signs weren’t good for the home side, with Kieran Foran breaking through a tackle and offloading to Justin Horo to score in the ninth minute. They doubled their advantage soon after when Foran threw a perfect pass to former Warrior Peta Hiku who raced through a gaping hole to make it 12-0.
But the Warriors began to gain some momentum and they were back in the game on 23 minutes when Elijah Taylor reached out to score alongside the posts after a determined run. And scores were level before halftime when Feleti Mateo offloaded to a flying Glen Fisiiahi.
The second half was a tight affair until Konrad Hurrell made his presence felt in the 68th minute. Receiving the ball from a standing start 10 metres out, he bumped off five defenders in a stunning run to the line to give his side an 18-12 lead.
The Warriors survived a scare when David Williams failed to ground the ball after chasing through a Hiku grubber but couldn’t hold out Steve Matai when he capitalised on a Hiku offload just a few minutes later.
However, captain Jamie Lyon couldn’t land the conversion and the home side held on for the narrowest of wins.
The Warriors enjoyed 53 per cent of possession and made 37 fewer tackles than their opponents with bench forwards Ben Matulino (159 metres) and Jacob Lillyman (154) making significant contributions.
Hiku ran for 193 metres and scored a try for the visitors.
