After last night’s NRL-New South Wales Cup double, the One New Zealand Warriors have completed a trifecta of wins over Canberra with a 48-26 win in Saturday’s second-round Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21) encounter at Aubrey Keech Reserve in Sydney.
In all three victories the Warriors knocked up 40 points or more with the NRL side winning 40-6 and the club’s New South Wales Cup team prevailing 44-12 for an aggregate scoreline of 132-46.
Like the club’s NRL side, the Jersey Flegg team has also banked 40 points plus in the opening two rounds followed a 48-14 trouncing of the Sydney Roosters in Pukekohe last Saturday.
In their first away trip, the Warriors yielded an eighth-minute try before levelling up at 6-6 in sensational fashion nine minutes.
Going left, standoff Harry Inch and winger Harry Tauafiafi connected with giant second rower Bishop Neal who was in space on the outside.
Match: Warriors v Raiders
Round 2 -
home Team
Warriors
1st Position
away Team
Raiders
8th Position
Venue: Aubrey Keech Reserve, Sydney
Receiving the ball 60 metres out, he showed off his prodigious mix of power and pace, blasting through one defender and leaving Canberra halfback Callum Dowell behind. Confronted by covering Raiders fullback Saxon Innes, Neal stepped back infield shrugging off Innes and Dowell - who had chased back - breaking through two other defenders and scoring between the posts. Wondrous.
Canberra responded to go 12-6 ahead soon after but a withering eight-minute blast changed the complexion of the contest as the Warriors scored in the 30th, 33rd and 38th minutes to lead 22-12 at halftime.
First halfback Jack Thompson and Inch combined with left centre Nganatatafu Vake. Checked near the line he managed to roll out a one-handed off load which Tauafiafi did remarkably well to gather and score in the corner.
Next up Thompson lofted a kick to the right where winger Brandon Norris, so capable in the air, collected and finished superbly before Thompson had a reward himself, chasing down his own grubber which had ricocheted.
Five tries followed in the second half and there might have been more.
In the 43rd minute a Thompson long pass gifted a try to an unmarked Tauafiafi before Neal was again in the picture. Inch’s cut-out pass gave the big man another long break down the touchline before he passed inside for the supporting Inch to finish to extend the lead to 34-12.
Canberra temporarily stalled the points spree but three more tries came for the Warriors.
A Thompson bomb was won in the contest with Norris ultimately driving over in multiple tackles to score his second. From a spread to the right centre Sio Kali went over and finally from a scrum on their own 30, the Warriors went right, Kali denting the line and shifting the ball sweetly for Norris to race 55 metres to complete a hat-trick. Inch converted to finish with 16 points.
More points were on offer but lapses allowed Canberra to reduce the damage with two late tries.
The Warriors are back across the Tasman next week featuring in a tripleheader at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle when the two clubs also meet in the NSW Cup and NRL competitions.
