History was made today when the One New Zealand Warriors snared a stunning 34-30 comeback win over the Bulldogs to ice the New South Wales Cup minor premiership for the first time in the club’s existence.
They were helped by the second-placed St George Illawarra Dragons who stumbled 14-32 against Canberra in a game which kicked off half an hour earlier leaving the Warriors in an unassailable position.
It was against the Dragons that the Warriors faltered last week.
Victory then would have secured the title but they were held to a 14-14 draw after failing to convert late opportunities.
There were anxious moments again today as Canterbury Bankstown took it to the Warriors with a burst of three converted tries for an 18-6 lead after 28 minutes.
After falling behind 18-22 early in the second half, the Bulldogs were back in front 30-22 after 26 minutes but it was the exciting young winger Sio Kali who turned the match with two wonderful tries.
Match: Bulldogs v Warriors
Round 23 -
home Team
Bulldogs
8th Position
away Team
Warriors
1st Position
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
The first came when the Warriors hit their left edge with Tanah Boyd, Jett Cleary and Setu Tu linking to give Kali a sight of the corner; he powered up and charged through three defenders to get the ball down, Boyd converting from the sideline to have the margin down to two at 28-30 with 19 minutes to go.
And then eight minutes from time the Warriors struck with a long-range stunner, Tu with a show and go to breach the line then popping a beautiful pass to Kali who scorched 60 metres to dive over spectacularly.
NSW Cup Highlights: Kali try seals comeback victory
With Boyd’s conversion the Warriors had a four-point lead and then negotiated the final stanza to close it out and celebrate the minor premiership.
They provided touches of class earlier in the contest, not least with their opening try when Makaia Tafua shot out of dummy half and fed Kalani Going who galloped 60 metres to score.
A nicely weighted Boyd grubber provided a try for Tu to have the Warriors just 12-18 behind at halftime.
They exploded out of the blocks in the opening minutes of the second spell when the destructive Toby Crosby blasted through would-be defenders to score followed soon after by a Geronimo Doyle effort when he ran onto a ball from Boyd.
The win leaves the Warriors unbeaten in their last 16 games with 19 wins and a draw in total from 21 played. They’re now on 43 points, nine clear of the Dragons.
