NRL: Warriors grind out victory over Cowboys

Simon Mannering of the Warriors looks to offload. Photo / Getty Images

Warriors 18
Cowboys 6

The Warriors ground out a tense victory over the Cowboys tonight to earn themselves a potential second life when the NRL finals begin next week.

The victory meant they leapfrogged the Cowboys and will finish the regular season in at least sixth position.

If the Tigers see off the lowly Sharks as expected later tonight, the Warriors will almost certainly find themselves heading to Brisbane to face the Broncos next Saturday night.

However, if the Tigers slip up the Warriors would move up to fifth, which would likely pit them against the Dragons in Sydney.

For the Cowboys the defeat means they will now likely head to Manly for what will be a must-win match.

The game never reached any great heights but the Warriors were well worth their win, edging the battle for field position and possession throughout.

They led 12-6 at half time thanks to tries from Krisnan Inu and Lance Hohaia.
Inu crossed in the 14th minute to punish the Cowboys after Johnathan Thurston had failed to find touch with a penalty.

At the end of the following set James Maloney hoisted a bomb that the Cowboys appeared to want little to do with. The loose ball bounced kindly for Shaun Johnson, who batted it on one-handed to send Inu over in the corner.

Maloney's sideline conversion gave the Warriors the perfect start but the Cowboys drew Kalifa Faifai Loa scored in the 18th minute.

An offside penalty invited the Cowboys into the Warriors' half and the deadly combination of Thurston and Matt Bowen opened them up on the left, with Faifai Loa crossing untouched after Bowen's skip pass had frozen Bill Tupou in his tracks.

Maloney then carved through the Cowboys' line and linked with Simon Mannering, who expertly sent Hohaia over bedside the posts despite the attentions of the converging Cowboys' defence.

The Cowboys looked lethal every time they went left, with only a Maloney intercept preventing a carbon copy try to Faifai Loa.

Maloney was ruled offside and the Warriors were forced to repel three straight sets as they consistently fell foul of referees Tony Archer and Ashley Klein.

The start of the second half was a tense affair, with the Warriors failing to convert three half-breaks.

They finally extended their lead in the 62nd minute when Johnson hit Inu with a skip pass straight from dummy half.

Inu had little room to manoeuvre but he nimbly avoided the chalk, and Maloney drilled the touchline conversion to extend the lead to a decisive 12 points.

WARRIORS 18 (K Inu 2 L Hohaia tries J Maloney 3 goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 6 (K Fai Fai Loa try J Thurston goal) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: Tony Archer, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 20,062.

- HERALD ONLINE