Round 22
New Zealand Warriors 30 d. Gold Coast Titans 6

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

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

Rovelli hat-trick inspires Warriors to victory
Sat August 11, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

A huge crowd of 20,609 watched the Vodafone Warriors power to a 24-point win in tonight's NRL clash against the Gold Coast Titans at Mt Smart Stadium.

The crowd, the club's biggest since 2003, was in raptures as the home side opened with a double for halfback Grant Rovelli inside 14 minutes.

It was his third brace in four matches.

And in the 19th minute Jerome Ropati added his ninth try in just 10 games, with Michael Witt converting all three.

In the second half Rovelli completed his first NRL treble to take his season's total to nine while Ropati profited from a Rovelli bomb to nab another double. He's now the club's leading try-scorer with 10.

With the victory, the Vodafone Warriors have now been unbeaten in their last five matches and have lost only one of their past nine games. Of 18 points on offer, they have picked up 15 to vault to 25 points on the ladder, giving them ownership for now at least of fourth spot.

Match details:

At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland:
Vodafone Warriors 30 (Grant Rovelli 3, Jerome Ropati 2 tries; Michael Witt 5 conversions).
Gold Coast Titans 6 (Anthony Laffranchi try; Brett Delaney conversion).
Halftime: 18-0 Vodafone Warriors.
Referee: Ben Cummins.
Crowd: 20,609.

Report source: www.warriors.co.nz


Luck clear to keep record going for Warriors
Tue August 7, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Loose forward Micheal Luck is free to continue his unbroken run of NRL appearances for the Vodafone Warriors in Saturday night's encounter with Gold Coast at Mt Smart Stadium.

Luck (25) today took an early guilty plea on a grade one dangerous throw charge he landed after a tackle on Roosters winger John Williams in last Sunday's 31-all draw at Aussie Stadium.

It means Luck, who hasn't missed a match since joining the club last year, will be clear to make his 45th consecutive NRL appearance.

Called in as Queensland's 18th for this year's final State of Origin game, he made another 40 tackles on Sunday becoming just the second player to top 700 tackles this season. His tally of 729, an average of 36.5 tackles a game, includes only 21 misses (an effective tackling rate of 94.5 per cent).

With Luck free to play, head coach Ivan Cleary again named an unchanged side for the round 22 encounter with the Titans.

"The game against the Roosters has had everyone talking but we have to put it behind us now and think about the Titans," he said.

"They got up for an important win against Wests Tigers on Saturday night and are still in the hunt for a spot in the play-offs. Like every game at this time of the year we have to be well-prepared and desperate if we're to compete."

When the two teams met in Carrara on June 30, the Vodafone Warriors - missing captain Steve Price that night - won 22-6. It started a run of five straight defeats for the Titans until they beat the Tigers last weekend, enabling them to climb to 10th place on 20 points.

The Vodafone Warriors, running fifth on 23 points, are unbeaten in their last four matches and have lost just once in their last eight games. In that time, they've scored 255 points conceded only 113.

One of the chief beneficiaries of the past eight weeks has been standoff Michael Witt, whose five goals and field goal took him past 100 points for the season last Sunday.

Bringing up 100 NRL career points last weekend was centre Jerome Ropati with his 25th try in his 66th appearance for the club and his eighth in only nine games this year.

Leading the team's try-scoring race is fullback Wade McKinnon with nine - seven of them in the last seven games - with winger Manu Vatuvei also on eight tries with Ropati. Witt, halfback Grant Rovelli and centre Simon Mannering all have six tries each.

Captain Steve Price's continues to set the pace among all NRL players in the metres gained category. He now has a total of 3487 metres this year after making a staggering 323 metres against the Roosters. While the feat included the extra time period it topped Price's record 306-metre effort against Cronulla in June.

Another exceptional statistic from the season so far has been the number of tackle breaks made by interchange back rower Epalahame Lauaki. He made 10 against Newcastle and another 10 against the Roosters, lifting his season's total to 70. Despite playing fewer average minutes per game than other players in the side, that ranks Lauaki second behind only McKinnon in the Vodafone Warriors.

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS v GOLD COAST TITANS
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
7.30pm, Saturday, August 11

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 August 7, 2007
• Titans make one change for Warriors clash
  

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