Round 23
New Zealand Warriors 18 d. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 4

2008 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Warriors keep Finals hopes alive
Sun August 17, 2008
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Cronulla has become the third top five NRL side to lose to the Vodafone Warriors in the last four weeks.

After beating Melbourne 8-6 on July 27 and Brisbane 16-12 last Saturday night, the Vodafone Warriors continued their success against highly-touted opponents by extracting an 18-4 victory over the Sharks in an ultimate arm wrestle encounter at Mt Smart Stadium tonight.

The triumph over one of the competition's best defensive sides lifted the Vodafone Warriors to 26 points and seventh spot temporarily at least on the table.

It also extended a run of form which has netted six wins in the side's last seven outings.

The latest conquest was again achieved on the back of an exceptional defensive effort, a common theme in the Vodafone Warriors' performances since their loss to South Sydney in early June.

The last two wins have also coincided with the return of fullback Wade McKinnon and winger Manu Vatuvei. They were again vital components tonight in an intense, if not four, struggle in testing conditions.

Throughout the contest, the Vodafone Warriors were outstanding defensively, especially near their own line. In the end the Sharks were unable to come up with anything that posed a threat other than winger Luke Covell's 13th minute try.

From the moment Michael Witt nudged over a close-range penalty in the fourth minute, the Vodafone Warriors were always ahead in this encounter.

Only four minutes later, the score became 8-0 after the Vodafone Warriors went from defending their own line to scoring at the other end of the field just moments later.

Nathan Fien cleaned up a last tackle kick, broke clear and was eventually hauled down by Cronulla's cover near halfway. The Vodafone Warriors swept the ball left to rejuvenated centre Jerome Ropati who scorched down the left-hand touchline for a superb try. With Witt's extras, the score was out to 8-0.

Covell's try - what would be Cronulla's only points - followed five minutes later but in the 21st minute the big man Vatuvei pounded his way through multiple tackles to make it 12-4 with his ninth try in his 11th outing of the season.

That's the way the score stayed until the break, not without some anxious moments as the Vodafone Warriors were forced to protect their line on several occasions.

For almost half an hour in the second half, the match teetered this way and that, neither team able to execute as it would like.

Finally, though, with only 11 minutes to go, Lance Hohaia cut through for what proved to seal the deal.

Match details:

At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
Vodafone Warriors 18 (Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Lance Hohaia tries; Michael Witt 2 conversions, penalty).
Cronulla Sharks 4 (Luke Covell try).
Halftime: 12-4 Vodafone Warriors.
Referee: Tony Archer.
Crowd: 10,147.

Report Source: www.warriors.co.nz


Injury ends Luck's long run of appearances for Warriors
Tue August 12, 2008
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Micheal Luck's run of 70 consecutive NRL appearances has been ended by a shoulder injury.

The 26-year-old loose forward has been left out of the line-up for the round 23 clash against Cronulla at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

The NRL's top tackler was forced off the field in the 60th minute of last Saturday night's 16-12 win over Brisbane and is likely to be sidelined for two matches at this stage.

Since joining the Vodafone Warriors for the 2006 season, the former North Queensland back rower hadn't missed a match until now.

He was the NRL's top tackler last season - 959 in 26 games, an average of 37 tackles a match - and he has been even more prolific this year. Even though he was on the field only 60 minutes, he made 32 tackles to lift his total to 801 in 20 games (40 a game).

"It's a real shame for Lucky and disappointing for us because he makes such a huge contribution to the side consistently every week," said coach Ivan Cleary.

"Considering the workload he has and the job he's required to do, it's a tribute to him that he has been able to put such a long run of appearances together."

With Luck out of the line-up, 19-year-old Ben Matulino is promoted from the bench to make his first start at NRL level after being used as an interchange player in his first eight appearances. Last Friday he was one of nine Vodafone Warriors named in New Zealand's 49-man train-on squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.

"Ben has made a really good start at first-grade level. He's worked hard off the bench and this is a great chance for him," said Cleary.

Matulino goes into the second row with Logan Swann switching to loose forward for his 189th career match. The new player on the bench is 158-game veteran Wairangi Koopu returning for his sixth game of the year, his first since the June 6 clash against South Sydney.

When the Vodafone Warriors and Cronulla met in Sydney in June - Matulino made his first-grade debut that night - the Sharks won 24-8.

The Vodafone Warriors go into Saturday's match with a 10 wins-10 losses record this season, sitting on 24 points in a share of sixth place but 10th on points differential. This will be their second to last home match of the regular season. So far they've won seven of their 10 matches at Mt Smart Stadium.

Their last three matches have all been tense, tight contests beating Melbourne 8-6 and Brisbane 16-12 while losing to South Sydney 16-18.

Having only his second outing of the year will be fullback Wade McKinnon.

Despite being sidelined for close to six months after knee surgery, he was impressive against the Broncos. As well as scoring a try in his 100th career game, he had more runs than any player on the field - 22 - and gained 185 metres, a total bettered only by Jerome Ropati's 205 metres.

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS v CRONULLA SHARKS
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
7.30pm, Saturday, August 16

Vodafone Warriors
1 Wade Mckinnon
2 Malo Solomona
3 Brent Tate
4 Jerome Ropati
5 Manu Vatuvei
6 Michael Witt
7 Nathan Fien
8 Ruben Wiki (vc)
9 Ian Henderson
10 Steve Price (c)
11 Simon Mannering
12 Ben Matulino
13 Logan Swann

Interchange:
14 Lance Hohaia
15 Sam Rapira
16 Epalahame Lauaki
17 Wairangi Koopu

Coach: Ivan Cleary

News Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Advanced Search