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The New Zealand Warriors have put on a clinical, entertaining and dominant second to rack up a half-century of points and record a 36-point victory over the Newcastle Knights at Hunter Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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After a high quality first half where the Knights pushed the Warriors, fighting extremely hard to stay in the game they didn’t score a point in the second half and their defence simply didn’t stand up as David Fusitu’a scored four tries.
The Auckland-based club were led strongly throughout the game by their creative combination of Shaun Johnson, Tuimoala Lolohea, Isaac Luke and Thomas Leuluai – although the later of those had a very reduced impact.
Luke was fantastic running the ball from dummy half in particular, while Johnson’s kicking game was all controlling.
The Newcastle side struggled to control the ruck when the Warriors had possession, and as a result there were countless quick play the balls, which stretched the defence, made life easy for Luke and generally allowed the Warriors to dominant up the middle.
With the likes of Ben Matulino, Albert Vete, Sam Lisone, Ryan Hoffman and Simon Mannering leading the way up the middle, the Knights became fatigued during the first half and then were simply unable to keep up during the second.
Newcastle’s best player by a long way was Jack Cogger. The young half had a strong kicking game, assisted both of the Knights tries and kept fighting all the way. Trent Hodkinson was strong during the first half, and it seemed to be the control of a two pronged attack keeping them in the game.
In the forwards, the Saifiti brothers both had solid games, while Jeremy Smith was his usual reliable self.
The Warriors got the scoring underway in the fifth minute up the middle through Albert Vete. Shaun Johnson took on the line before going to Jacob Lillyman, then along to Vete and he scored under the posts with the help of the bunker after it went upstairs with a possible obstruction.
David Fusitu’a then took the Warriors out to a double digit lead with a try on the right hand side after a strong shift from the middle of the park.
Sione Mata’utia would then get the Knights on the board off a beautiful short ball from Jack Cogger, before a massive 30-metre run to the line, brushing off a couple of defenders on the way with big fends.
Manu Vatuvei then took the Warriors back ahead, getting a little lucky after a Shaun Johnson grubber was deflected.
Brendan Elliott scored for the Knights off a Jack Cogger grubber in the 27th minute before Bodene Thompson crashed over in the 35th off a very nice pass from Isaac Luke.
The Knights then went on the attack right at the end of the first half, and had to settle for a penalty goal.
At halftime it was 22-14, with 36 points being scored.
After the break though, Newcastle’s defence fell away and they struggled to even look in the same class as the Warriors, with points coming in a flurry.
David Fusitu’a, who scored one try in the first try would score another three in the space of 10 minutes and put the game beyond doubt in a hurry.
With a seven tackle set, the Warriors were able to move up field easily through their forward pack, before a grubber from Johnson was deflected to Lolohea, and a pass saw a diving Fusitu’a over in the corner.
Fusitu’a would be over again just four minutes later from a lovely shift to the right that took in Johnson, Lolohea and then Blake Ayshford on an instant catch and pass.
It was all too easy for Fusitu’a as the next try was set up from in their own half. Nathaniel Roache went from dummy half, passing right to Johnson who got around a few defenders, then a ball onto Ayshford who turned Fusitu’a back through a gap on the inside 30 metres from home. Gagai would not be able to stop him on his way to the line.
The Warriors then shifted their attention to the left hand side as Leuluai took on the line, passing a ball to Hoffman who offloaded to Johnson, managing to get an arm free before he through a long ball and Kata scored in the corner.
Vete would score his second try just five minutes from home, bringing up the half-century with a cracking pass from Luke out of dummy half and a crash over through the defence.
So the Warriors now appear to be getting on their annual Origin streak with two straight wins, while the Knights stay pinned to the bottom of the table with just one win so far this season.
Final score
Newcastle Knights 14
New Zealand Warriors 50
Stats
Tries: Knights (2), Warriors (9)
Goals: Knights (2/2), Warriors (7/9)
Penalty Goals: Knights (1/1), Warriors (0)
Possession: Knights (40%), Warriors (60%)
Completions: Knights (21/28), Warroors (29/38)
All runs: Knights (124), Warriors (189)
Run Metres: Knights (1126), Warriors (1820)
Line Breaks: Knights (1), Warriors (14)
Offloads: Kights (14), Warriors (10)
Tackles: Knights (344), Warriors (217)
Missed Tackles: Knights (49), Warriors (24)
Penalties: Knights (6), Warriors (5)
Errors: Knights (7), Warriors (6)
The Roar’s NRL MVP votes
3 – Tuimoala Lolohea
2 – David Fusitu’a
1 – Isaac Luke