Warriors coach Stephen Kearney pleased with first hit-out of the season

Warriors coach Stephen Kearney saw enough positives to be pleased with his side's performance at Rotorua International Stadium, despite a slow start.

The Warriors let the Melbourne Storm in for a soft try within three minutes on Saturday, but they grew as the game went on and won 20-14.

It was not a blow-out win by any means, but Kearney was in a good mood post-match.

"I thought there were some really nice patches there from the boys, in terms of expectation this early. There were probably some patches that weren't as tidy and we need to improve on, but I was quietly pleased.

"I thought a couple of their tries were softies, all of them to be fair, but that's a little technical detail which I think we can fix pretty easily. For the most part I thought the defence was pretty good and there were some promising signs," Kearney said.

Image 1 of 14: Warriors v Storm trial match at the Rotorua International Stadium. Wayne Temara, Leah Temara, and Dante Temara, 7,

New signing Peta Hiku, who has previously played for the Manly Sea Eagles, Penrith Panthers and Warrington Wolves, combined well with David Fusitua on the right-edge.

"They're both class players, if you give Peta and David some ball with the tryline pretty close, particularly David has a good habit of getting the ball down. It's just a matter of trying to get him ball in space and Peta is pretty good like that.

"I'm pretty comfortable, the other side is probably more power-based with [Solomone Kata] and Ken [Maumalo]. I thought [Kata's] was a pretty good try there too, he showed what he's capable of."

The side was captained by halfback Mason Lino, who saw plenty of ball throughout the game.

"I thought he warmed into it, we probably started the game a little bit sheepish, I thought we were a little bit slow to start off with. I thought Mason warmed himself into the game really well, he had to play the whole game and I thought he did a good job," Kearney said.

He was also pleased with what he saw from debutant Hayze Perham.

"There's been a fair bit said about Hayze over the last little bit, I've been one of those guys saying it, and the reality is that it's a tough old business, a tough old job, but he's shown enough to me, as an 18-year-old kid, that he certainly has something to offer the group."