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At the start of the year, all the talk was about how a Panthers assistant coach was going to revive another NRL club after becoming head coach.
That’s turned out to be true: not Cameron Ciraldo at the Bulldogs, Andrew Webster at the Warriors.
After vanquishing St George Illawarra 48-18 at WIN Stadium on Friday night, the Warriors are now knocking on the door of the top four with a 9-6 record, rubbing shoulders with the likes of competition heavyweights South Sydney, Melbourne, Penrith and Brisbane.
For the home side, captain Ben Hunt made a sheepish return after requesting an immediate release earlier in the week while in Origin camp but he didn’t look like the only Dragon who didn’t want to be there.
Shaun Johnson scores a try. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
There was a smattering of boos from the Dragons fans as Hunt ran onto the field before kick-off.
You can forgive them for being apathetic after sitting through a pathetic effort from their team for most of the season.
Hunt requested an immediate release earlier in the week, didn’t return to Wollongong to prepare for the match until the day before the game because of Origin duties and looked flat backing up 48 hours after Queensland’s midweek win as he was thoroughly outplayed by his opposite number with Johnson tallying a try and six goals for the Warriors.
“It wasa very disappointing game tonight. It’s Jack de Belin’s 200th game, we’ve got to turn up a bit better than that for one of your mates,” Hunt said.
“I’m still the captain of the team and I’ll always show up for my role. Until that’s changed, I’ll keep coming.”
When asked if that was his last appearance in the red and white, he replied: “I’m not too sure. I’ve got to have a meeting with the club higher-ups next week and work it out from there.
“I’m keen to get it sorted out. We’ll get to the end of it.
“It’s been a couple of tough days, a couple of really good days,” he added while reflecting on his week after playing in Queensland’s series-clinching 32-6 Origin II win over NSW. “It’s the rollercoaster of rugby league and tonight can bring you back down pretty quick.”
Fox League expert Greg Alexander said incoming coach Shane Flanagan should not bother trying to convince him to stay for the final two years of his contract and the club would be best served to show him the door now.
“I’d move on from Ben Hunt. Their season’s done. They’ve won four games. I would be moving on and although it sounds brutal, Ben, OK, you want out, you can go.
“He was happy to sign last October when Anthony Griffin was there. We know the relationship between those two. How much did that play a part in this decision (to request a release).”
Michael Ennis added that the NRL needed to fix its haphazard contract system while adding he was not sure whether Hunt could continue captaining a club he doesn’t want to play for.
“The fact that players in this modern day can still stick their hand up midway through a season and say they want out, I think it’s a stain on the game. We have to change that. The game needs to step in at some point,” he said. “There’s kids out there that have that famous No.7 Dragons jersey because of Ben Hunt.
“They knew he was going to be there this year. He was their hope of playing finals because he’s their marquee man.”
Ennis said if Hunt breaks his contract, he should not be allowed to play for another NRL club for the rest of this year. His former club, Brisbane, who are keen for his services, are running first and Ennis said it would be a terrible look if the marquee player from a cellar dweller was allowed to switch to a frontrunner.
To be fair to the Maroons representative, none of the Dragons players emerged from these 80 minutes with their reputations enhanced.
Even though he looks twice the size, Jack Bird looks half the player he was when he represented NSW and won a premiership during his early days at Cronulla.
Their young prospects are still a year away from being a year away from dominating on a consistent basis while the rest of the roster looks very expendable.
Interim coach Ryan Carr said the Hunt contract dramas “had nothing to do with” the team’s inept display.
“There’s excuses everywhere if you want them. We were extremely disappointing and embarrassing tonight and I apologise to our fans who turned up here,” he said. “It was definitely not up to the standard we’ve been playing for the last month.”
If you were framing a market for the Dally M Coach of the Year award heading into the final two months of the regular season, Webster should be well out in front.
Perhaps only Brisbane’s Kevin Walters would rival the rookie former Penrith assistant but when you compare the respective rosters, Webster’s effort to turn around a team that was predicted to be wooden spoon contenders has been remarkable.
Once were terrible tacklers, the Warriors are now one of the better defensive teams in the NRL with only the Panthers conceding fewer points than the Auckland franchise heading into Round 17.
Webster has brought the defensive nous from Penrith but also instilled a tougher edge to a team which was known for blowing hot and cold, particularly over the past few seasons under Nathan Brown.
When asked after the game what pleased him the most, he said “it probably sounds weird but the last couple of sets in defence”.
Even when his team is up by 30 he was demanding they keep their line intact. “They’re the moments that you’re not ruthless or not trying because you know you’ve got it done.
“I thought our attack was really clinical at times, I also thought that we overdid it at other times.
“Our big thing at the moment is how quickly we can improve each week and fix things we’re not good at. And how ambitious we are not about the result but to be better.”
Warriors skipper Tohu Harris was thrilled with his first-year coach. “He’s been outstanding. Right from day one he’s filled the place with confidence. He’s filled us with confidence and also the other things we need to know in how to be a better player.”
The Warriors have a tough stretch coming up with the Rabbitohs, Eels, Sharks and Raiders on the horizon. With three of those matches in Auckland, they could set themselves up for not only an unlikely finals berth but even snare what would be a barely unbelievable top-four berth by season’s end.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak looks like the Paddle Pop Lion these days with his flowing mullet and devoured the Dragons out wide with four tries, which could have been five if not for a selfless pass on the line to put centre Rocco Berry over.
DWZ was over in the fourth minute to open the scoring and when St George Illawarra fullback Tyrell Sloan responded with a fine individual effort, the hosts held a 6-4 lead for a 12-minute stretch in the first half.
But when Marcelo Montoya and Bailey Sironen touched down in rapid fashion, the Warriors grabbed the lead before second-rower Jackson Ford performed a one-on-one strip on teammate Dylan Walker after a Shaun Johnson bomb to make it 20-6 at half-time.
There was a bit of doubt about the Sironen putdown from a grubber, similar to the Valentine Holmes try in Origin on Wednesday and Andrew Johns in Nine commentary even was able to joke about it while adding he didn’t want to be seen as more of a sook by Maroons fans by mentioning it.
The Gerringong junior had plenty of fans in the stands at Wollongong. He was allowed to leave in the off-season and the Dragons effectively received veteran forward Ben Murdoch-Masila in return from the Warriors – no prizes for guessing which team has won that trade.
Warriors forward Marate Niukore was sin-binned two minutes in the second half when his shoulder connected with Moses Suli’s head in a forceful tackle which led Immortal halfback Andrew Johns on Nine commentary to claim it was a “very soft” dismissal.
A Zane Musgrove try gave Dragons fans brief hope when the deficit was cut to eight early in the second half before Watene-Zelezniak bagged his second and Addin Fonua-Blake offloaded skilfully for Johnson to score.
DWZ put Berry over and then sprinted across the stripe twice more after a Francis Molo try for the Dragons as the Warriors ran out 30-point winners in just their second win in Wollongong.