The New Zealand Warriors’ abysmal defence has allowed the Canberra Raiders to run away with a massive 26-point win at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth during Round 11 of the NRL season.
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It was a nearly pathetic performance in defence from the Warriors as they leaked in plenty of soft tries and made countless errors in attack. Coupled with giving away penalties, it became an impossible task for New Zealand.
Canberra should be given plenty of credit as well for their excellent work in attack, with Josh Hodgson having a noticeable impact when he came off the bench and Aiden Sezer, along with Blake Austin, controlling things well.
When New Zealand were in attack they lacked direction for the most part, although Shaun Johnson had some moments of brilliance – most of which didn’t result in points.
The Canberra forward pack also made life easy for their creative players, dominating for most of the night. Elliott Whitehead, Shannon Boyd, Paul Vaughan and Luke Bateman led the way running hard and making easy metres.
The first try was for Blake Austin in the 18th minute. Like the Warriors, the Raiders also started slowly dropping plenty of balls – but penalties led them down the field and Austin threw a big dummy to the right, then spun out of a tackle and scored easily.
Joseph Leilua would be next to score with a bit of luck off a deflection to a grubber kick out wide.
Jarrod Croker was the man who showed just how poor the Warriors defence was in the first half, as he got the ball out on the left from a Jack Wighton pass, put the foot down and ran through like they weren’t even there.
At halftime, the Raiders were absolutely dominating. Throw in a couple of penalty goals and they were up 22-0, with the Warriors not looking like scoring – or stopping the Raiders from doing so.
It was a complete momentum shift – even though short lived – after the break as Sam Lisone and James Gavet fired the Warriors into action. They looked like a completely different team as they rolled up the middle with ease, putting the Raiders under plenty of pressure.
Their execution when right on the attack was lacking though and while Thomas Leulali, Tuimoala Lolohea and Shaun Johnson all had plenty of involvement they simply couldn’t create enough points. When errors crept back into their game in a big way they again couldn’t control the Raiders and the game went away from them at a cracking pace.
Shaun Johnson would put the Warriors on the board in the 45th minute after they spread to the right and found the defence outnumbered. Bodene Thompson so nearly butchered it, but Johnson would collect an offload from the ground and score.
The momentum of the game would slowly shift around before Josh Papalii crossed in the 55th minute off a pass from Josh Hodgson close to the line.
It would be another 10 minutes before Josh Hodgson crashed over out of dummy half through the defence.
The Warriors would then get caught spreading it out of their own end with Blake Ayshford unable to hang onto a pass and Edrick Lee would run away to score in the corner.
The scoring would finish through Blake Ayshford with a consolation try after Thompson had the ball raked and Ayshford was there to pick up the crumbs.
In the end it was the Raiders with a big win in New Plymouth, moving back into the top eight while the Warriors’ disapppointing season continues.
Final Score
New Zealand Warriors 12
Canberra Raiders 38
The Roar’s NRL MVP
3 – Josh Hodgson
2 – Elliott Whitehead
1 – Jordan Rapana
Stats
Tries: Warriors (2), Raiders (6)
Goals: Warriors (2/2), Raiders (5/6)
Penalty Goals: Warriors (0), Raiders (2/2)
Possession: Warriors (47%), Raiders (53%)
Completions: Warriors (27/37), Raiders (27/38)
All Runs: Warriors (148), Raiders (157)
All Run Metres: Warriors (1239), Raiders (1355)
Line Breaks: Warriors (1), Raiders (5)
Offloads: Warriors (3), Raiders (5)
Tackles: Warriors (339), Raiders (303)
Missed Tackles: Warriors (28), Raiders (19)
Penalties: Warriors (7), Raiders (10)
Errors: Warriors (9), Raiders (11)
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