Source: Radio New Zealand
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck celebrates a try saving tackle on Storm wing (and Warriors successor) Will Warbrick. AAP / Photosport
Analysis: There’s no better way to put championship aspirations back on track than a big win over an opponent that has bullied you in the past.
So it was for NZ Warriors, who ended a two-game slump with a 38-14 victory over Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park.
Over the previous 11 years, the Storm had absolutely owned the Warriors, rattling up 17 consecutive wins – and some of them demoralisingly heavy.
That’s not the kind of rival you want to face, when you’re trying to regroup from a couple of disappointing performances, but the Auckland side showed they still had the goods to venture deep into playoffs this year.
“Really proud,” coach Andrew Webster admitted. “I’m not going to lie, it’s been a frustrating period when we haven’t won, so to give Warriors fans a reason to smile and get that monkey off our back is not a bad thing at all.
“It was more that we wanted to get back to playing out best football. There was a lot of chat that they would come out firing, because of the way they’d been going, but we had two performances we weren’t really proud of and wanted to get back to playing how we wanted to.
“If we got rid of the streak – I won’t call it a voodoo [sic] – that would be a bonus.”
Webster wasn’t presumptuous enough to describe this performance as season-changing, but it was certainly an indication of how he wanted his team to play moving forward.
“What this win does for us will only tell in coming weeks, but it should certainly leave us with confidence that, when we play the style we want to play, and turn up for each other and have your mate’s back, we’re going to get what we want most often.
“Hopefully, it does keep us going.”
Here are some key takeaways from the game.
Best player
Let’s start with the obvious. Front-rower Jackson Ford probably gave his waning Dally M chances a boost, clocking the full 80 minutes, scoring a try, and leading his team in both running metres (162) and tackles (35).
Think about that stat for a second. In 46 games so far this season, only one other player has achieved this – Parramatta Eels forward Jack Williams against Wests Tigers.
Ford has now done it three times and is also the only player to lead his team in both categories for the season.
He made a couple of mistakes – his dropped kickoff return led to Cooper Clarke’s opening try for the Storm – but more than made up for it, as the game wore on.
Jackson Ford reaches out to score a try against the Storm. AAP / Photosport
After his hattrick last week, Wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored two more tries this week and should have had a third, if fullback Taine Tuaupiki hadn’t been such a hungus midway through the second half.
Without the mixed messages of Luke Metcalf outside him, Tanah Boyd continued to own the No.7 jersey, and continues to lead the competition in kicking metres and try assists, while Chanel Harris-Tavita made a strong case to retain the five-eighth spot.
His vicious tackle on Storm prop Josh King sparked a melee, as the Warriors reminded their rivals of the one-sided scoreline.
“I think that’s just out game,” captain James Fisher-Harris said. “We go good when we’re physical.
“It wasn’t just because it was the Storm – that’s how it’s supposed to be for us going forward.”
Another feature of the performance was the strong contribution off the interchange, led by Demitric Vaimauga, who ran like a demon for 130 powerful metres and also inflicted some punishing tackles.
“I thought our whole pack was great,” Webster said. “Lots to celebrate with our forwards and we just can’t do it without them.
“When they play their best and they’re physical, we play really good football.”
Key moment
Not so much a turning point, as a statement.
Late in the contest, with no real hope of mounting a comeback, the Storm sent big wing Will Warbrick rumbling towards the corner flag.
The Warriors edges have been exploited heavily in the past, but not this time, as Roger Tuivasa-Sheck hurtled out of the night and crashed Warbrick into touch.
This moment was all the more poetic for the fact that on 31 March 2026.
Warbrick will replace RTS in the Warriors line-up next season], but clearly the incumbent was not yet ready to make way for his successor, as he waggled his finger Dikembe Mutombo-style.
Not in my house, mate.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck tackles Will Warbrick into touch. AAP / Photosport
“The goal-line defence at the end was probably the proudest part,” Webster reflected. “We kept putting ourselves under pressure, got a couple of unlucky calls, but kept turning up right to the end, which was awesome.”
Best try
Watene-Zelezniak’s second try was a perfectly worked practice ground special, with Boyd putting up a kick near the line, centre Ali Leiataua chasing it down and Vaimauga providing the final pass to his wing.
His first try was completely opportunistic, with Boyd throwing a long pass that dribbled along the ground, evading four Storm defenders and three Warriors attackers, before it was snapped up and finished off.
Injuries etc
The Warriors were forced to shuffle their backline for this encounter, with Metcalf (hamstring) and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (neck) ruled out by injury, and Adam Pompey by judiciary.
Webster simply handed the No.6 jersey back to Harris-Tavita, and 24 hours out, named Leiataua and Leka Halasima as his midfield.
An hour before kickoff, he pulled a fast one, switching Tuivasa-Sheck to centre, handing a Warriors debut to speedster Alofiana Khan-Pereira and keeping Halasima in the second row.
After his unsuccessful 2024 midfield move, RTS stuck exclusively to wing last season, despite his team’s revolving door of centres, so the timing of this switch seemed bizarre, but it paid dividends.
After a couple of listless outings, Tuivasa-Sheck seemed re-invigorated by the assignment.
The only obvious casualty from the game was front-rower Tanner Stowers-Smith, who seemed to be nursing a hamstring on the bench, although Watene-Zelezniak was also clutching his face, after a late head clash.
What the result means
Where do we start?
That 17-game hex no longer hangs over the Warriors.
The 24-point margin represents their biggest win over the Storm, surpassing the 28-12 outcome in Melbourne in 2002.
After back-to-back losses to Wests Tigers and Cronulla Sharks, the Warriors have regained their mojo and claimed second on the competition table, two points behind Penrith Panthers and ahead of six other teams on points differential.
The Tigers or Newcastle Knights will vault past them, when they meet on Sunday afternoon.
Melbourne Storm
Perhaps this game told us more about the Storm than the Warriors.
After leading 22-12 at halftime of last year’s grand final, they were run down by Brisbane Broncos and don’t seem to have recovered from that disappointment.
Storm captain Harry Grant surveys the one-sided scoreboard against the Warriors. AAP / Photosport
They’ve lost several players from that line-up, notably fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen (retired), wing Xavier Coates (injury), forwards Shawn Blore (injury), Eliesa Katoa (head injury) and Tui Kamikamica (stroke), as well as enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona (boxing), who was suspended.
Their losing streak now extends to four straight, after winning the opening two games of their campaign, and they sit 13th on the table.
This time last year, four-time defending champions Penrith Panthers were one off the bottom of the ladder in the midst of a similar run, but reeled of 10 consecutive victories to eventually reach the preliminary finals, so the Storm aren’t sunk yet.
On Friday, they face 2025 minor premiers Canberra Raiders, who also languish unexpectedly near the foot of the competition.
What’s next
The Warriors now return to Go Media Stadium to face struggling Gold Coast Titans, who have one win from five games so far this season, but face Parramatta Eels (2-3) on Sunday afternoon.
While that sounds like an easy assignment, bear in mind the Titans have won three of their last four against the Warriors and seven of the last 10, including a 66-6 hiding across the Tasman in 2024.
They have also won their last three at Mt Smart – exactly the kind of team that can bring you back to earth quickly.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
