Round 20
New Zealand Warriors 52 d. Newcastle Knights 10

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Knights trounced by Warriors
Mon July 30, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

The Vodafone Warriors racked up their biggest winning margin of the year as they trounced Newcastle at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

The 42-point winning margin surpassed the 40-point victory in June's 54-14 win against Penrith and it also equalled the club's record win against the Knights (42-0 in 1999).

In securing their sixth win in their last seven matches, the Vodafone Warriors charged into the top four, temporarily at least.

In their last three home games, the Steve Price-led side has knocked up scores of 54-14, 44-16 and now 52-10 - a total of 150 points for and just 40 against. In each of those matches, they've scored 30 points or more in the first 40 minutes.

The chief beneficiaries of Saturday night's stampede were fullback Wade McKinnon, halfback Grant Rovelli, centre Jerome Ropati and standoff Michael Witt.

McKinnon had a double inside the first seven minutes - and is now the side's leading scorer with eight - before Rovelli then scored his side's third and fourth tries giving him a brace in each of his last two games.

Ropati picked up a pair in the second half and Witt converted eight of the nine tries for 18 points. He reached 400 career points with his first conversion and took his season's tally to 94.

Price also wowed the crowd and the television audience with a remarkable 60-metre surge - 61 metres to be precise - for his fourth try of the season after swooping on a loose Newcastle try.

And equally popular was a 90-metre effort by Vatuvei when he collected a kick and went all the way for his seventh try of the season.

With their tries, Vatuvei and Ropati are just one behind McKinnon with seven for the season (Ropati has seven in only eight appearances) while Simon Mannering, Witt and Rovelli are one further back with six.

What really stood out about the tries yet again was the quality of all of them and the fact so many once more came from long range.

The Vodafone Warriors are the kings of try-scoring from 50-plus metres out this year. They went into the match with 16 from distance and added more still from Price, Vatuvei, Rovelli (with his second try off a Nathan Fien break), Koopu and Ropati's first effort.

Predictably they dominated in all statistical areas making 1670 metres to just 1088 metres by Newcastle. They came up with 11 line breaks to only four, made a modest 275 tackles to the Knights' sapping load of 331 and missed only 19 compared to Newcastle's 51.

Individually McKinnon had another superb match with his two tries, two line breaks, no errors, 17 runs, 143 metres gained and an astonishing 14 tackle breaks (now 136 for the season from only 17 games).

Vatuvei, helped by his 90-metre try, gained 190 metres, made two line breaks and broke eight tackles in another impressive performance while Rovelli had two tries, two line breaks, two try assists and five tackle breaks.

Price was just Price with 228 metres from 20 runs (both game-high stats) and Epalahame Lauaki made 107 metres and broke 10 tackles.

In all eight players gained 100 metres or more (Rovelli just short with 96) but the players' player of the day didn't come from the names above. It was awarded to prop Sam Rapira, who has been highly impressive as an ever-present component in the side.

He finished with 142 metres from 16 runs, propped out three high-quality off loads and made 21 tackles.

The side's top defender was typically Micheal Luck with another clean sheet in the misses column while making 35 tackles.

The Vodafone Warriors travel to Sydney for round 21 when they'll meet the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Football Stadium next Sunday. The Roosters have put together three straight wins since Brad Fittler took over from Chris Anderson as coach, their latest a superb 26-16 against competitions leader Melbourne.

Match details:

At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland:
Vodafone Warriors 52 (Wade McKinnon 2, Grant Rovelli 2, Jerome Ropati 2, Steve Price, Wairangi Koopu, Manu Vatuvei tries; Michael Witt 8 conversions).
Newcastle Knights 10 (James McManus, Kirk Reynoldson tries; Kurt Gidley conversion).
Halftime: 30-4 Vodafone Warriors.
Referee: Jared Maxwell.
Crowd: 11,301.

News sent by: www.warriors.co.nz


No changes as Warriors eye home clash against Newcastle
Tue July 24, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Vodafone Warriors head coach Ivan Cleary has again been able to name an unchanged combination for Saturday night's 20th-round NRL match against Newcastle at Mt Smart Stadium.

It means the club is set to use the same starting line-up for the third game on end after back-to-back wins against St George Illawarra (44-16) and Wests Tigers (28-16).

For the second week running, Cleary has a full squad of 25 players available including second rower Louis Anderson, who was a late defection from the Vodafone Auckland Lions for their New South Wales Premier League clash with Wests Magpies last Sunday.

Also available is centre Jerome Ropati who has avoided suspension by taking an early guilty plea on a grade one dangerous throw charge for his involvement in a tackle on Wests Tigers forward Taniela Tuiaki last weekend.

"Everyone's pushing for spots but the players in the NRL side have been doing a really good job for us the last few weeks," said Cleary.

"While their efforts have been great, the same is true for the guys who are in the Vodafone Auckland Lions."

Since losing six in a row, the Vodafone Warriors have won five of their last six matches, enabling them to move to sixth spot on 20 points on the NRL ladder. They now have a nine wins-nine losses record heading into the last six rounds of the regular season.

Saturday night's opponents the Newcastle Knights have won only one of their last five games but Cleary rates them a dangerous proposition.

"It's the same with every side in this competition. They all have the ability to beat any other side on any give day and we expect the Knights to be a real challenge," he said.

The Knights contributed to the Vodafone Warriors' run of defeats in May and early June, coming back late from a big deficit to win 24-18 at EnergyAustralia Stadium in the ninth round.

Standoff Michael Witt, the Vodafone Warriors' leading scorer with 78 points, lost his perfect goal-kicking record last Sunday. After kicking his first three attempts to stretch his sequence to 28 straight, he narrowly missed with his conversion attempt of Wairangi Koopu's try. He now needs only one goal against Newcastle to bring up 400 first-grade career points.

With Micheal Luck scoring his first try of the season last Sunday, every one of the club's regular NRL players has now managed at least one try this season.

There's a tight race among the team's top try scorers with four players all on six at the moment - Wade McKinnon, Manu Vatuvei, Simon Mannering and Michael Witt - while Jerome Ropati and Michael Crockett are close behind, both with five tries in seven appearances so far.

With all players available, eight NRL squad members will line up for the Vodafone Auckland Lions in Saturday night's NSW Premier League curtain-raiser against the Knights.

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS v NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
7:30pm (NZ), Saturday, July 28

Vodafone Warriors

1 Wade McKinnon
2 Michael Crockett
3 Jerome Ropati
4 Simon Mannering
5 Manu Vatuvei
6 Michael Witt
7 Grant Rovelli
8 Sam Rapira
9 George Gatis
10 Steve Price (c)
11 Ruben Wiki (vc)
12 Logan Swann
13 Micheal Luck

Interchange:
14 Wairangi Koopu
15 Evarn Tuimavave
16 Epalahame Lauaki
18 Nathan Fien

Coach: Ivan Cleary

News sent by: www.warriors.co.nz

Tue July 24, 2007
• Mullen cleared of serious injury, Buderus not named for Warriors clash
  

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