Centre Moala Graham-Taufa started and iced a terrific second half comeback to earn the One New Zealand Warriors a gritty 18-16 win in their round one New South Wales Cup encounter with Canberra at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney on Saturday.
The Warriors were scratchy in the first half but minimised the damage as they scrambled well to keep the Raiders to a 10-0 advantage to the break.
Then in the second 40 minutes they switched it up, gaining more cohesion in their attack the further the contest went and matching it with resilience and aggression in defence.
Their effort was rewarded in the 49th minute as they mounted pressure on Canberra’s line, working left on the last tackle with halfback Tanah Boyd – in his first match in Warriors colours – threading through a delicate right-footed grubber for Taufa-Graham to race onto to score.
With Boyd’s conversion the Warriors were right in the battle just 6-10 behind.
Match: Raiders v Warriors
Round 1 -
home Team
Raiders
8th Position
away Team
Warriors
5th Position
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
They faltered on the restart set, losing possession to a one-on-one strip on the third tackle but averted danger.
Two minutes later a Canberra error gave the Warriors a scrum feed 40 metres out from the home side's line.
Strong carries from Edward Kosi, Tanner Stowers-Smith, Jacob Laban and Kalani Going had the Warriors just five metres out. Hooker Sam Healey swept left to Te Maire Martin where he held up the defence, fed fullback Geronimo Doyle and he chopped back off his left foot evading three defenders to make it 10-10. Boyd's conversion put his side in the lead for the first time.
It lasted only six minutes as Canberra found attacking rhythm to create space for winger Michael Asomua to score wide out on the left with one-time Warriors squad member Adam Cook converting for a 16-12 lead.
With 16 minutes to go, the Warriors set about regaining momentum. They appeared to have missed a great opportunity, coughing up the ball on Canberra’s line with 10 minutes to go and inviting the hosts back down their end again.
A penalty on halfway with eight minutes to go proved to be the turning point.
Laban and Tom Ale took the Warriors forward on the first two tackles, Martin probed to the left linking with Doyle again before he was stopped. Martin had a dab on the next and then Going carried the ball towards the right-hand post.
On the last tackle the ball went left to Martin again where he went to the line, hitting a charging Graham-Taufa on a run against the grain, the centre leaving multiple defenders on the ground to have the score level at 16-16.
Boyd calmly slotted the conversion for an 18-16 lead with the Warriors then efficiently closed out the contest for a gritty first-up win.
They’re at home next Friday night taking on the Sea Eagles in the early game at Go Media Stadium.
