Warriors nearly calm Storm again
Related coverage
They did it in the 2008 NRL qualifying final. They did it in last year’s preliminary final. They’ve done it in three of the four previous matches against Melbourne.
They nearly did it again at AAMI Park on Wednesday night.
No matter what shape or form the Warriors are in, they are capable of beating the Storm – or at least pushing them to the brink.
Were it not for the cheese slipping off their cracker with 11 minutes remaining, the Warriors could have pulled off another big occasion victory in Melbourne – this time the now-regular Anzac Day clash between the two clubs.
Instead it was a 32-14 defeat which both coaches believe did not accurately reflect the match.
If the Warriors have uncovered a secret to calming the Storm – who had been unbeaten in their previous seven matches – they weren’t sharing it.
“We knew it was a big occasion, on a great day to play a game of footy, and there’s a good history there between the two teams,” Warriors captain Simon Mannering said.
“It’s us coming over here for a challenge we enjoy, and we get it against Melbourne every time.”
The Warriors’ honourable Anzac Day defeat came two important men down.
Halfback Shaun Johnson, with less than a season’s total of NRL games but a rising star nonetheless, withdrew late with a shoulder injury from the recent Test match.
And fullback Kevin Locke was taken off early with a sternum injury.
That forced centre Krisnan Inu to deputise at fullback, and two crucial mistakes which led to tries could be sheeted home to him.
The Warriors sit outside the top eight with just three wins from their eight matches – a long way adrift of the Storm and their eight-match picket fence.
“It’s disappointing that we let it go because the game was a lot closer than that,” Warriors coach Brian McClennan said.
“(Losing two key players) doesn’t help does it?
“Turn it around. Would it make a difference if their 1 and 7 came out? It does affect you, but you just have to deal with it. Tonight we didn’t do it well enough.”
© AAP 2013
Passionate about your league? Then sign up to The Roar's brand new daily league email, delivering Roaring articles directly to you day-in, day-out. You'll love it!
Click here to join now!
Looking to join The Roar team? We're searching for an experienced Group Sales Manager to lead our team in Sydney. Yes, this does mean you get to work with the site all day long! If you're a digital media sales star, we want to hear from you. Apply now.
The Crowd Says (10) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- Melbourne Storm, New Zealand Warriors, NRL, Rugby League
April 26th 2012 @ 4:04pm
Meesta Cool said | April 26th 2012 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
Will Inu get challenged by the ‘betting police’,? he did a lot more to influence this result than any other player in the history of league… IMO warriors would have narrowly won this game without this players incompetence.
April 26th 2012 @ 8:29pm
Spiritfree said | April 26th 2012 @ 8:29pm | Report comment
Definitely not. I’ve no doubt that he was even more upset about it than everyone else. Krisnan Inu is a Mormon and I imagine pretty religious. Which means, in this case, incorruptible.
April 26th 2012 @ 4:18pm
Jarmen said | April 26th 2012 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
I don’t know if he is guilty of match fixing that is a massive accusation to make.
I would say he is guilty of over confidence and wanting to be Sonny Billesque qwith his one handed grasp of the Steeden.
What lost the Warriors this game was their l;ack of ability to play the full 80mins, the poor defense on the left side of the park.
I’m not sure if you have noticed but it seems the Warriors stand off the ball runners and allow them to make easy metres instead of cutting down the space and in turn the options.
One thing for certain is that Inu will be running around in the NSW cup next week for the Vulcans
April 26th 2012 @ 8:36pm
Spiritfree said | April 26th 2012 @ 8:36pm | Report comment
“What lost the Warriors this game was their l;ack of ability to play the full 80mins,….” I don’t agree. It was the mistakes and the Storm’s ability to capitalise on them.. Not just one or two, but three times, this happened. After the third one, it’s not hard to imagine that the Warriors players woud have been feeling very disheartened, especially after they had put so much effort into the game. It would have looked – and felt – like game over (“we put the effort in and the we go and shoot ourselves in the foot”) And it was after that third one that the score blew out.
April 26th 2012 @ 8:48pm
Meesta Cool said | April 26th 2012 @ 8:48pm | Report comment
My apologies to Krisnan and his family, supporters etc: the post of mine was in extremely bad taste even though it was posted ‘Tongue in cheek”.. at no time did I want to accuse Krisnan of any wrong doing or cheating.
I guess that anyone putting in a bad performance will feel very upset and don’t really need an unidentified twit accusing them of wrong doig!. once again I apologise fro the thoughtless comment.. it was SO wrong!.
April 26th 2012 @ 6:55pm
Emric said | April 26th 2012 @ 6:55pm | Report comment
who cares the warriors suck so badly they should be dropped from the NRL with a second Brisbane, and Melbourne teams taking their place
April 26th 2012 @ 7:22pm
samsonite said | April 26th 2012 @ 7:22pm | Report comment
your being a tad harsh there emric. top of the table storm are no mugs and the warriors have strung together a couple of encouraging performances.
Actually what the NRL needs is a southern NZ team..cue owen glen et al.
April 26th 2012 @ 7:29pm
NF said | April 26th 2012 @ 7:29pm | Report comment
Emric would not approve it he’s a rugby fan/troll remember and I’m not for 2nd NZ either more like 2nd Brissie/Perth in time. Anywho, losing to Storm is no real shame.
April 26th 2012 @ 9:11pm
Sylvester said | April 26th 2012 @ 9:11pm | Report comment
The Storm were just ruthless in taking the opportunities they were present. Warriors had as much attacking ball, just did nothing with it.
Johnson was a big loss in that respect. Godinet had no impact on the game, other than to mess up the defensive structure. It was a bit much to ask the of the guy really.
Mannering was pretty much the cause of both the second-half tries on the left edge by not sliding. It’s been their weakness all season, so nothing new there.
April 26th 2012 @ 11:55pm
Queensland's Game is Rugby League said | April 26th 2012 @ 11:55pm | Report comment
Warriors were unlucky to lose their full-back. A couple of the tries that the Storm scored in the second half came on the back of the errors that were made by the Warriors’ stand-in fullback.