Nathan Friend's acrobatics went global and Shaun Johnson delivered a master class display in the Vodafone Warriors' record home win over the Melbourne Storm on Sunday.
The 28-14 victory was the biggest of the club's nine wins at Mount Smart Stadium against the Storm as it brought the Michael Moore Trophy back to Auckland.
While the Vodafone Warriors completed only 23 sets they made more metres than Melbourne, topped them 7-2 in line breaks and 28-15 in line breaks while missing just 15 tackles.
Johnson's personal stats were outstanding. As well as his dazzling try he had a key hand in each of the other four tries, made a game-high 213 metres from 15 runs, eight tackle breaks, two line breaks, two line break assists and 17 tackles (with no misses).
STATISTICS | v MELBOURNE STORM, MOUNT SMART STADIUM | WON 28-14
Team Stats:
Penalties | Vodafone Warriors 6, Melbourne 5.
Completions | Vodafone Warriors 23/34 (68), Melbourne 26/34 (77%).
Total runs | Vodafone Warriors 159, Melbourne 160.
Metres gained | Vodafone Warriors 1484, Melbourne 1297.
Dummy half runs (metres) | Vodafone Warriors 11 (91), Melbourne 12 (79).
Line breaks | Vodafone Warriors 7, Melbourne 2.
Tackle breaks | Vodafone Warriors 28, Melbourne 15.
Kicks (kicking metres) | Vodafone Warriors 13 (273), Melbourne 18 (399).
Tackles | Vodafone Warriors 324, Melbourne 290.
Missed tackles | Vodafone Warriors 15, Melbourne 28.
Offloads | Vodafone Warriors 10, Melbourne 9.
Errors | Vodafone Warriors 11, Melbourne 9.
Individual stats:
Runs | Vodafone Warriors: Shaun Johnson 15, Ben Matulino 15, Simon Mannering 13, David Fusitu’a 12, Solomone Kata 12, Sam Tomkins 12, Tuimoala Lolohea 10, Jonathan Wright 10, Jacob Lillyman 10. Melbourne: Marika Koroibete 16, Cameron Munster 16, Jesse Bromwich 15, Tohu Harris 12, Nelson Asofa-Solomona 11, Dale Finucane 10, Tim Glasby 10, .
Metres gained | Vodafone Warriors: Shaun Johnson 213, Ben Matulino 132, Tuimoala Lolohea 130, David Fusitu’a 125, Solomone Kata 102. Melbourne: Marika Koroibete 152, Cameron Munster 150, Jesse Bromwich 130, Tohu Harris 118, Nelson Asofa-Solomona 106.
Tackle breaks | Vodafone Warriors: Shaun Johnson 8, Bodene Thompson 6, Solomone Kata 5, Tuimoala Lolohea 4. Melbourne: Marika Koroibete 3.
Off loads | Vodafone Warriors: Simon Mannering 4, Ben Matulino 2. Melbourne: Marika Koroibete 2.
Tackles | Vodafone Warriors: Simon Mannering 43, Bodene Thompson 39, Nathan Friend 34, Raymond Faitala-Mariner 25, Jacob Lillyman 24, Ben Matulino 22, Charlie Gubb 20. Melbourne: Cameron Smith 41, Kevin Proctor 29, Jesse Bromwich 27, Dave Finucane 24, Tim Glasby 22, Felise Kaufusi 22, Ryan Hinchcliffe 22, Tohu Harris 20.
Missed tackles | Vodafone Warriors: Bodene Thompson 0, Raymond Faitala-Mariner 0, Albert Vete 0, Shaun Johnson 0, Charlie Gubb 0, Siliva Havili 0, Sione Lousi 0. Melbourne: Felise Kaufusi 0, Dale Finucane 0, Tohu Harris 0, Kenny Bromwich 0.
Solid #stats from @DavidFusitua on Sunday incl. a linebreak to send Lolohea into space | WATCH http://t.co/PJaXXIzN4B pic.twitter.com/wd39wWXG2f
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) July 13, 2015
