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The Warriors’ winning streak has continued, with a 30-22 win over the Wests Tigers lifting the Kiwis to five unbeaten, all but confirming their place in the top four.
It would take a serious collapse from here on out for Andrew Webster’s side not to get the second bite in the Finals: they now have 13 wins and two home fixtures to go against the Dolphins and Manly, neither of whom will make the eight.
This was technically an away game – the Tigers choosing to move their home fixture to Waikato – but, just like last week on the Gold Coast, the majority of fans were on the Warriors side.
It speaks to how far they have come this season that they have such backing from Kiwis both at home and abroad.
There was a little work for referee Chris Butler to do. Stefano Utoikamanu was put on report for a bumper bar incident that caused Wayde Egan taken to hospital. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak also ended up on report for the same action in the second half.
Tim Sheens was angered by the penalty against Utoikamanu, especially as Tigers captain Api Koroisau had his jaw broken in a similar incident with Tino Fa’asuamaleaui that did not result in action from the officials.
“He better not (be charge) after what happened with Api,” said the coach. He didn’t hit him in the head at all. He’s gone and had some problems with his breathing.
“All of a sudden it is a penalty, I can’t see why it is a penalty. There was no penalty and there was no suspension when it happened to Api. Why is this now a problem?”
This won’t go down as the best of their performances this season, but they were always far too good for a Tigers side that can’t move without shooting itself in the foot.
“Maybe we need to tweak a few things so that we are concentrating,” said Webster.
“I don’t know if guys are looking ahead or whatever it is, we just need to make sure we are getting better each week.”
The Kiwis played the hits: a DWZ acrobatic finish at the corner, a Tohu Harris crowdpleaser and a Shaun Johnson pass for Addin Fonua-Blake under the posts. There was even a stoppage for a pitch invader.
They were pegged back by a first half double salvo from Starford To’a and Luke Brooks after exceptional work from Daine Laurie, who also conjured one for himself and a second for To’a in the dying moments.
It is the ultimate Tigers irony that, just as they find a position that works for Laurie and enough time for him to play himself into form, he will leave the club to be a back-up at Penrith.
It was typically confusing stuff for Sheens: his side can put on outstanding football at times, but it always comes with so much rubbish that they never give themselves a chance.
This was the most un-Warriors thing imaginable: a routine win. They played about 50% as well as they could do and won anyway,
It was a bit of a strange performance in that they never really got going to the best of their ability, but also never, ever looked like losing. Never has a team leading by four points in the final quarter looked less like they would lose.
The Warriors were forced to take a penalty goal to extend the lead to six points to make the result sure, but given that they were facing the Tigers, it really wasn’t necessary.
It was a properly competent performance if not an exceptional one. The Warriors had over 60% of the ball and territory, utterly denying the Tigers the chance to build pressure, and always moved the dial in their favour. There was a feeling that they could have switched gears whenever they wanted.
That they never really did underlined the importance of Egan to this side. He left with a HIA 20 minutes in and, for once, Webster had left Freddy Lussick off his bench, so it was perhaps inevitable that the hooker would go down early.
Egan has been central in straightening their attack and getting Shaun Johnson space, and while Bayley Sironen was perfectly fine as a hooker, he’s not a specialist and didn’t quite have the deception that has been vital in getting the Warriors on the front foot.
Without that, they weren’t quite as able to generate attack, but their control of the game ensured that it didn’t matter that much.
Harris’ try was purely because of fatigue in the Tigers’ ranks after mountains of defence, and the lack of attack coming the other way much the same. After all the tackling and with 100m to go, they invariably failed to score.
Fonua-Blake strolling under the posts with three minutes to play was the clincher, but it had been a long time coming with slow, suffocating pressure.
The Tigers, in fairness to them, very much got into the spirit of the occasion. They brought a huge number of Kiwis – five of their 17 were born in NZ – and played the perfect role as far as good opponents were concerned. They had a crack, but never looked like winning.
They threw back, putting on some excellent tries, but also coughed up a lot of opportunity to ensure that they got beaten in the end.
In typically Tigers fashion, the most exciting parts of their afternoon were from players who they have already let go.
Laurie was exceptional, scoring one of his own and setting up three for others, while Luke Brooks also impressed in support play, finishing off a move of his own.
The usual good things about the Tigers were also there. Their young players remain impressive if inconsistent, which bodes well for the future as they mature into proper first graders.
The usual bad things, however, were also there. The dropped balls, poor reads, toothless attack and awful kicking all came to the fore at different times.
Turning up, having a crack and losing anyway – at the moment, that’s the Wests Tigers way.