"Proud" and "courageous" are fitting adjectives to attribute on April 25 and while parallels between football and war could not be further apart those were the words Warriors coach Andrew McFadden used to describe his side's Round 8 performance.
New Zealand's 16-10 win over the Storm in front of a record AAMI Park crowd of 28,716 was the type of victory that could turn a season around.
Heading into the game without a win from their past three outings, the Warriors showed a hunger and desire for the contest their fans had been longing to see.
"We have had to deal with some adversity over the past month and we've been putting in the effort but not getting the rewards," said McFadden.
"It was great for the players to have that feeling again of achieving something special.
"We came here with nothing to lose, we went for it and they displayed some real effort there tonight and that was why they got away with the win."
It was a much more clinical performance from the Kiwi outfit after errors had become part and parcel of their performances in recent weeks.
In their past two matches the Warriors boasted a completion rate of just 68% but on Friday night that was up to 87% with just four errors. It was those two columns on the stats sheet that went a long way to securing the two points.
This was also a team that went into Round 8 with the worst defensive record in the competition, and yet managed to restrict to Storm to just 10 points – their lowest score of the year.
"That is what we've been working on," McFadden said.
"When you get the attitude right and the desire right that is the most critical part to being a good defensive team.
"That is what they are doing at the moment and I think they are realising that (attitude) is what works."
Unfortunately for the Warriors they will to go through the international break next week before getting the chance to build on their momentum when they take on the Canberra Raiders at Eden Park.
