Warriors defence stands out

The Vodafone Warriors muscled up in defence to keep the Burleigh Bears from crossing their line to win their trial match 30-0 in front of a bumper crowd of 8222 at Toll Stadium on Saturday.
Stars like Shaun Berrigan, Krisnan Inu and Kevin Locke made the difference in a tight first half, but some of the team's lesser lights, like Carlos Tuimavave, Sam Lousi and Glen Fisiiahi, were the ones who led the way as the Warriors got on top of the visiting Queensland Cup side in the second spell. Top defender Michael Luck, who watched the game from the sideline, said the defensive shutout was a welcome bonus.
"It was good to see the boys controlling the tackles so well. It was a big improvement from last week and in the second half we took our opportunities and attacked a bit better, so there was plenty to be happy about," he said.
Most of the triallists played well enough to give coach Ivan Cleary some headaches when he comes to select what will be close to a full-strength team for their final trial game against Manly next week at North Harbour Stadium.
"Shaun Berrigan was very good today and I thought a couple of the young guys played big-time games like Carlos Tuimavave and young Omar [Slaimankhel] on the wing played pretty well and, overall, everyone made a pretty good fist of it," Luck continued.
Some of the 2010 Toyota Cup winning junior team were out to prove they can make the transition into first grade this season.
"A strong squad breeds competition and that's something we haven't had the luxury of in the past," he said.
With the most experienced line-up starting the match, the Warriors were kept to just one try in the opening quarter. Locke, playing on the right wing in the first spell, snared a James Maloney bomb for his first try and then backed up a Berrigan break from dummy half to run 40m for his second, after 26 minutes.
Just before halftime, Lousi off-loaded to Elijah Taylor, who freed up another new signing, Inu, on the outside for a 50-metre run to the line. Inu showed off his star quality by converting his own try to make it 16-0 at the break.
The Bears went all out to score a try at the beginning of the second spell and the effort cost them as they began to tire noticeably toward the end of the third quarter. The Warriors gained momentum, but the fourth try didn't come until the 58th minute. Still, it was a moment to savour for Auckland Vulcans' regular Johnny Aranga as he scored in the corner.
The NRL team scored two more tries to Fisiiahi and replacement hooker Alehana Mara.
Earlier, in the curtain-raiser, the Junior Warriors held on to beat Auckland club champions Otahuhu 34-28. The juniors used their skill, speed and strength to carve out a 34-10 lead but they conceded four tries in the final quarter.
Warriors: 30 (Kevin Locke 2, Krisnan Inu, Johnny Aranga, Glen Fisiiahi, Alehana Mara tries; James Maloney 2 conversions; Inu conversion) Burleigh Bears: 0.