League: Cowboys outgunned

Simon Mannering slides over the line to score a try. Phil Walter / Getty Images

Warriors 26 Cowboys 0

The Warriors might be out of the playoffs race but they're certainly taking delight in heaping misery on sides challenging for the top eight.

Last weekend they seriously dented the Sharks' ambitions with a tough 12-10 win played in equally tough conditions and last night the Cowboys basically kissed their chances goodbye with only three rounds left to play.

"We have got three games to go and we're going to do our damnedest to make life as hard as possible for those sides we come up against," said Lance Hohaia, who celebrated a brace of tries last night.

It has been an extraordinary turnaround for the Cowboys, considering they broke out of the blocks with six straight wins before losing 12 of their next 15 games.

They've also endured a sex scandal, an injury toll that has robbed them of some of their best players and last week some senior players griped about the tough fitness programme they were being put through. There's nothing like blaming the fitness adviser for a dreadful form slump.

"We are doing it tough at the moment," Cowboys coach Graham Murray admitted. "Extremely tough."

Murray's players look well short of the ones who blazed their way into last year's grand final and last night they lacked structure, knocked the ball on and players shirked from taking the ball up.

They showed some fight when Luke O'Donnell firstly put a high shot on Hohaia and then dropped the elbow on the Warrior as he lay on the ground but it was the wrong type of aggression and O'Donnell was rightfully sent off in the 70th minute. It was a cheap shot for a talented player clearly frustrated by his club's plight.

For their part, the Warriors played a controlled and largely error-free game. The slippery conditions made it difficult to play an expansive style but it was their rushing defence that was the most impressive aspect of their game and to keep the Cowboys scoreless represented a good night's work. They hunted in twos and threes and regularly drove their opponents towards their own goalline.

The Warriors took a deserved 12-0 lead into the break courtesy of tries to Simon Mannering and Sam Rapira. Both were set up by Jerome Ropati, a player who has started to grow into the five-eighths role, and his combination with Grant Rovelli is looking better each week.

Coach Ivan Cleary left Ropati in the No 6 jersey when many pundits expected Hohaia to slip into the halves after the withdrawal of Tony Martin. Instead, Hohaia played in the unfamiliar position of right centre and scored two late tries to kill off the game.

"Ivan spoke to me during the week and told me he had a new job for me, that he was going to put me out in the centres and give me the goalkicking duties," Hohaia said. "I was really just happy to be out on the field."

The 23-year-old hasn't seen much game time of late, playing third fiddle at hooker behind Nathan Fien, who also missed the match against his old side because of a back injury, and George Gatis. But he's vowed to stick with the Warriors despite his limited opportunities and once again showed the value he adds to the club.

The Warriors have three more weeks left of what has been a difficult season and the high-flying Storm are next in their sights. If they manage to upset a side on an incredible 10-game winning streak, it would represent another good conquest.

Warriors 26 (L. Hohaia 2, S. Mannering, S. Rapira, M. Vatuvei tries, L. Hohaia 3 gls).
Cowboys 0.
HT: 12-0.