KEY POINTS:
When the Warriors lost wing Michael Crockett for a high tackle five minutes into the game against the Bulldogs the result became a foregone conclusion.
It was obvious Crockett would get marched after his victim Cameron Phelps departed on a stretcher, touch judge David Abood reporting to referee Sean Hampstead that "he [Crockett] came in with a swinging arm and the first point of contact was the head".
It is the third sending-off for the 2007 season, the benchmark having been set by Sonny Bill Williams' high shot on Andrew Johns when the Bulldogs played Newcastle in round one, an offence that earned Williams three weeks off.
If Crockett gets the same, the wing position becomes more of a problem for Warriors coach Ivan Cleary, with Manu Vatuvei not turning out in the Premier League for the Lions yesterday as they also lost to the Dogs.
Phelps was vomiting for 30 minutes after leaving the field.
Brent Sherwin got things going 11 minutes after Crockett's sending-off, chipping through the Warriors defence and Williams touching down for the first of two tries as he returned to top form. He had a hand in two others as the Dogs ran in seven tries to four.
Four of those came through simple overlaps created because of the 12-against-13 situation, ace goal-kicker Hazem El Masri nailing all four conversions. That 24-point haul was the difference in a game where the Warriors fronted well until they again ran out of petrol and fell to errors and turnovers.
Ruben Wiki was rested from this match because he has been carrying injuries and the coach wants him refreshed to lead the team against the high-flying Melbourne Storm, captain Steve Price a sitter to be picked for the second State of Origin this week and therefore out of next Sunday's game.
And despite suffering their fifth consecutive loss yesterday, the Warriors do look to be creating more on attack and will probably be as well-off fronting Melbourne now as at any other time given they are likely to lose playmakers Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis and Matt King to the Origin camps.
It was Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes' 250th NRL game and his 150th win. "We've been playing well in patches and tonight we played better for longer," he said. Williams had played well, as he would expect of a senior player; so had halves Sherwin and Kiwi Ben Roberts; Luke Patten and captain Andrew Ryan were good "as always," while prop Mark O'Meley was close to his man-of-the-match, Folkes said.
He was pleased at a solid effort in the second half especially, when the Warriors earned back-to-back sets of six. They finished the game with 16 men after losing Lee Te Maari with a left knee rupture so he did not believe the numbers imbalance was decisive.
Warriors coach Ivan Cleary felt the turning point in the game came when Dogs prop Jarrad Hickey scored from a turnover 28 seconds before the break. "We should have been leading at halftime, that would have been a real boost."
The Warriors profited with lots of ground-gain from chip-kicks behind the Dogs' line and were unlucky not to score more points that way, a blinder of a tackle from Darryl Millard stopping a Wade McKinnon break. Cleary said he was pleased the halves had realised they could get around the defence that way.
Price, whose 179m gain continues a run that is up with the best of his career, was pleased with the all-round effort. They had perhaps tried too hard and made mistakes when they should have consolidated.
