The Other Warriors
Junior Warriors Shut Out
The Junior Warriors made sure at least one Warriors team was walking away with the win on Saturday. They thrashed the Junior Raiders 54 points to nil, the first time in three seasons they have held a team scoreless.
Coming off a disappointing loss to the Junior Storm, the Warriors were looking to get their season back on track against the Raiders. Adding the performance was the fact that their resident play maker and captain Mason Lino did not play for them, as well as Solomone Kata another senior within the team.
The game against the Raiders also saw the debut of three new players under coach Stacey Jones - Paul Ulberg and John Wesley Tauti who played on the wings as well as halfback Mikaere Beattie.
The game started well for the Warriors, and they continued the form until the final hooter. At half time they were up 32 points to zip showing good prowess on attack and a sturdy defensive line to back it up. They did not manage to gather up as many points in the second half, but I think the focus was on keeping the Raiders scoreless.
The debutant wingers Ulberg and Tauti both scored with Ulberg snagging a double. The forwards also got in on the action with Matiu Love-Henry and Jordan Baldwinson getting their first NYC tries. Adam Tuimavave-Gerrad and James Bell (twice) also got on the score board.
The Junior Warriors take on the the bottom of the table Bulldogs at Waikato Stadium this week, while the Warriors have moved into fifth position on the ladder.
The NSW Warriors get closed out
What started as a promising result for the NSW Warriors soon went wayward when the Mounties (Raiders NSW Cup feeder) stormed home to finish the game on top at 42 - 22.
The Warriors looked a bit disorganized which could be attributed to their changed line up just before the game kicked off. Regardless, the Mounties outfit were physically dominant and deserved the victory.
The Warriors opened their account early with Solomone Kata who pounced on his own grubber to secure his first NSW Cup try. Steve Waetford then added to the Warriors score card after running onto a deft long ball from Tui Lolohea. That was it for the Warriors first half efforts.
The Mounties replied strongly with hooker Matt McIlwrick burrowing his way over next the posts as well as Mosese Pangai crashing over with Mitch Cornish adding the extras to make it 12 a piece. The second half continued the way the first ended with Mounties adding more points. Sami Sauiluma put in a beast performance proving too much for the Warriors defense to handle crossing for a whopping four times in the space of only 22 minutes.
The surprising part was this was not the first time he has put four tries on an opponent this year. The only salvation for the Warriors came in the closing moments with young gun Lolohea scoring twice to reduce the final score in their loss. This week the NSW Cup Warriors take on Manly at Brookvale Oval, hopefully to avoid a third straight loss.