NRL: Well done Warriors

Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran celebrate during the win over Brisbane. Photo / Getty Images

Credit where credit is due - well done Warriors. That was an impressive performance to beat the Broncos last night.

Yes, the visitors were under-strength and missing key personnel on rep duty but you can only beat what is put in front of you and the Warriors did that in convincing fashion.

The game serves as the best example yet of why the much-talked about spine is not the major issue for this club. They might have some issues turning in strong performances when they don't have a platform up front but if they get parity or better in the middle third of the park, they have the ability to cut teams to pieces, as we saw last night.

It comes as no surprise that Shaun Johnson ran effectively last night, that Issac Luke darted out of dummy half and kicked from the position or that the team's offloading was up on recent weeks. They earned those things. That is what this sport is all about - earning the right to do the flashy stuff.

Last night's win came because they dominated the ruck. They made good yardage and got quicker play-the-balls than their opposition. Everything else flowed off the back of it - Johnson's running and direction, the ball movement, the sweeping back-line plays etc were all possible because they were getting better ball than the Broncos were.

The embarrassingly weak tackling of a week earlier was gone - largely due to the fact they had the lion's share of possession and the fact that the Broncos were gassed from having to work so hard to contain the Warriors, leaving little energy to use with the ball.

I have my suspicions that we might not see much more of that dominance in the middle of the park this season - the Broncos were missing four of their six front-line forward pack - but the proof is there for the recruitment team - give this spine a decent pack and the points will come.

As bad as the Warriors have been in the previous two games last night's win gets them within two points of the top eight. They've now won five of six games at Mt Smart Stadium this year. If they can improve their horrible away record and try to replicate last night's blueprint each week the finals spot that looked nearly impossible over the past fortnight is actually within their reach.