WATCH: Luke Brooks gets absolutely levelled by Matterson, makes it his mission to get him back
Ryan Matterson folded the Manly five-eighth, but Brooks came back with a shot of his own later in the half.
The Warriors emphatically lived up to their pre-tournament favouritism at the NRL Nines on Saturday in front of an expectant Auckland crowd.
Buoyed on by the vast majority of the crowd support at a sold out Eden Park, the Warriors swept aside Canberra 25-14 and Manly 27-4 to emerge as the team to beat as English recruit Sam Tomkins and Shaun Johnson starred.
A Nines title would be a dream result for the NRL and Warriors, who have already qualified for Sunday’s finals ahead of their last pool game against North Queensland.
Penrith and Parramatta are the two other undefeated sides to have progressed to the finals while Canberra, Canterbury and St George Illawarra will head home after their third game.
In his first official outing for the Warriors since his offseason move from Wigan, Tomkins gave glimpses of what fans can expect in the NRL this year and said the Kiwis side were determined to go on with it at the Nines.
“We definitely want to win this,” Tomkins said.
“We are desperate to put on a good performance in front of our fans, the support has been brilliant out there.
“There is a carnival atmosphere and that is great to play in front of.
“We are looking forward to tomorrow.”
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Ryan Matterson folded the Manly five-eighth, but Brooks came back with a shot of his own later in the half.
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