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After a tough first half, the Warriors raced away with this contest in the second half and finally secure their first win of the season, and one would expect them to string some wins together from here on in.
Newcastle competed well in the first half but had no answers to New Zealand’s onslaught in the second.
Final score
Warriors 40
Knights 18
An underwhelming start to the season leaves the New Zealand Warriors with no choice but to defeat the Newcastle Knights or risk intense scrutiny from media and fans alike. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 2pm AEDT.
Even with the inclusions of Issac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the Warriors have once again started another season poorly and simply must win today to get their campaign up and running.
Judging from the opening three rounds, the Warriors are playing like a team under enormous pressure. Many pundits had them inside the top four at the beginning of the year but it remains to be seen if New Zealand will even make the eight based on their efforts thus far.
To be fair, two of the Warriors defeats thus far have come against premiership contenders Melbourne and Brisbane. The other defeat was against the Tigers back in round 1.
If the Warriors however suffer a defeat to lowly Newcastle this afternoon, the pressure on head coach Andrew McFadden will intensify tremendously and he may not hold on to his position if results don’t improve today.
The Knights did well last week to rescue a draw against the Raiders. Trailing 16-nil, Newcastle managed to score three tries in an eight-minute period in the second half en route to a 24-24 draw.
Indeed the key match-up between Shaun Johnson and Jarred Mullen will decide the winner of today’s contest. Johnson in particular has once again produced underwhelming performances in the opening three rounds and needs to start firing on a consistent basis if he wishes to be considered an elite player.
After their golden point draw against the Raiders, the Knights do approach this game with more confidence and possess the potential to trouble New Zealand away from home. With that said, the ball remains in the Warriors’ court. If their class players play well, they win, if they don’t, Newcastle will cause the upset.
Warriors by 12