In a game that had it all, a gutsy comeback in the pouring rain has seen the Warriors finally break their Shark Park hoodoo, recording their first win at PointsBet Stadium since 2015 with a 32-30 victory over Cronulla on Sunday.
The Warriors hadn’t beaten Cronulla away since 2015, and after trailing 20-0 after 19 minutes it didn’t look like the record was being broken any time soon. But in a huge second-half turnaround, the Warriors once again showed their newfound resilience to see them earn their fourth win of the season.
Former Shark Shaun Johnson was the hero of the game, with the Warriors halfback involved in everything including kicking the winning goal in the final stages of the match.
“To get one over in the dying minutes… what a feeling,” said Johnson. “It’s up there [with one of the best wins], everyone that’s watching at home, they can see a difference in us.”
The Sharks opened the scoring early after a Warriors mistake close to their own try line, with Teig Wilton crossing for the home side in his 50th NRL match. It looked like it was going to be a whitewash on old-boys day when the Sharks ran out to a 20-0 lead after just 19 minutes.
But as the Warriors have grown custom to this season they began their fightback and managed to trail 26-12 by the halftime break.
Despite losing Marata Niukore in the 39th minute for a contentious hip-drop tackle on Sharks centre Siosifa Talakai, the Warriors scored the opening two tries of the second half to narrow the gap. Ronaldo Mulitalo extended the lead for the home side, but as the heavens opened a bulldozing Josh Curran hit back for the Warriors with ten minutes left on the clock to see the scoreboard level at 30-all.
When Cronulla were reduced to 12 men after enforcer Dale Finucane was sin-binned with five minutes to go for an alleged hip drop similar to Niukore’s, it looked like an upset was on the cards. A penalty to the visitors gave Johnson the chance to be the hero kicking his side to a two-point lead.
But just before the siren sounded Johnson was himself penalised for being in an offside position, Nicho Hynes was given the opportunity to send the game into golden point. A kick from the sideline in the heavy rain proved too difficult for the Sharks halfback, with his kick being waved away and the Warriors getting an extraordinary win.
SHAUN JOHNSON COMES IN CLUTCH!!!
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 2, 2023
????WATCH #NRLSharksWarriors on Ch. 502 or stream via @kayosports https://t.co/KU6O1WswuO
???? MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/zEWRVdhc9p pic.twitter.com/J0zCBsPf5F
Two harsh hip-drop calls
While the dreaded hip-drop tackle is a manoeuvre that needs to be removed from the game immediately, the officials must also be careful to not tar similar tackles with the same brush.
Warriors backrower Niukore was sin-binned late in the first half for an alleged hip-drop tackle on Sharks centre Talakai, a call Fox commentator Shane Flanagan thought was completely wrong.
“I don’t even think it was a penalty,” said Flanagan at halftime. “It was just a power run, he gets the defender off to the side….. strange call.”
Fellow commentator Corey Parker agreed with his colleague.
“It was absolutely a tough call. Trying to stop Sifa, he is such a powerhouse runner,” said Parker.
“He made contact, he was pushed to the side, and it was deemed to be a hip-drop. I don’t see where he was supposed to go in that instance, he was just doing his best to hang on.”
When Finucane suffered the same fate late in the second half after a tackle went wrong on Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Andrew Voss was quick to jump to both players’ defence.
Johnson has turned back the clock
Warriors fans had their fingers crossed that when the prodigal son returned it would be the start of a resurgence, and Johnson has not disappointed.
He was instrumental again on Sunday during his side’s win, scoring a try, having a hand in two others, and producing a kicking game that put opposing halfback Hynes on show.
50 for Mulitalo
Sharks wingers and close friends Ronaldo Mulitalo and Sione Katoa both played in the 64th NRL game on Sunday and have also created a friendly try-scoring competition to see who could reach 50 first.
Both players started the games with 48 tries each, and within the first five minutes had each edged closer to 49. But when Mulitalo crossed for his second try of the day in the 55th minute, he also claimed the bragging rights reaching his 50th.
Ronaldo scores and lets the Warriors know about it!!! ????????????
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 2, 2023
????WATCH #NRLSharksWarriors on Ch. 502 or stream via @kayosports https://t.co/KU6O1WswuO
???? MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/zEWRVdhc9p pic.twitter.com/GonIx1In9C
Warriors develop a bad habit
While the Warriors finally seem like a complete and competitive side under new coach Andrew Webster, there is a worrying pattern that is fast becoming a problem – in every one of their five games so far they have allowed the opposition to score first.
Despite this being one of their strongest starts to a season in recent memory, the Warriors will be hoping to turn this around quickly and become the first to cross the try line in the rest of their games.
Danielle Smithhttps://https://ift.tt/D1vceKz Warriors stage miracle comeback win against Sharks as Johnson gets last laugh over former side
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