League: Warriors deliver the goods

NZ Warrior Sione Faumuina slips a pass to Brent Webb during the match against the Knights yesterday. Picture / Brent Phibbs

Warriors 30 Knights 18

The Warriors produced enthusiasm on defence and invention on attack to take the Newcastle Knights right out of the game at Mt Smart Stadium yesterday.

Newcastle's star Andrew Johns was contained - it wasn't that he didn't play well, just that the Warriors shut him down.

Warriors boss Eric Watson was in the stands, as was NRL boss David Gallop but there were just 6240 paying fans, the lowest number this season.

Knights coach Michael Hagan paid tribute to his opposite Ivan Cleary's organisation and to the Warriors team and offered no excuses for the loss, despite being entitled to question some refereeing decisions.

The visitors came off the bye and were without their playmaking hooker and Johns' right hand man Danny Buderus but they could not use those as reasons for the loss, Hagan said.

The visitors enjoyed repeat sets of six after forcing several goal-line drop-outs in the first 30 minutes but couldn't score - one critical component of the win. Another came from the home team forwards, five of whom produced more than 100 metres ground-gain, something only two of the Knights forwards managed.

When Warriors skipper Steve Price scored near the posts in the 62nd minute he put the game beyond doubt, his mother one of the hardy souls braving biting cold yesterday on a surprise visit to see her son play his 250th game, just the 50th player to achieve that.

In the last five minutes, the Knights ran in two tries to make the scoreline flattering for them.

"I thought at halftime that if we could control the footy we were still in it," Hagan said, lamenting eight consecutive sets of six in the second half where they failed to do that.

"You are not going to keep a team like the Warriors try-less if you do that. The Warriors are playing extremely good football under their coach."

Former Kiwis prop Craig Smith admitted the Knights never felt like they got into the game.

"They put us under a lot of pressure at times, their line speed was good, they slowed our ball, they dominated us from the start and we were always playing catch-up. We paid for it by pushing too hard."

Hagan said the loss was no fault of Johns. "I thought Andrew tried pretty hard. We had a number of opportunities to score tries and it wasn't down to his [Johns'] lack of execution."

Cleary was pleased with another 17-man performance and consistency throughout the 80 minutes. The Warriors turned the Knights away from their try-line repeatedly despite repeat sets in the first half and that helped win the game, he said.

Of the ref's decisions going their way, Cleary said they had been on the other end of those types of calls in earlier games.

Nathan Fien made good use of controlled aggression in attack and defence for a fine game, Sione Faumuina topped the tackle count and continues to look dangerous in attack. Jerome Ropati and Grant Rovelli looked more assured in the halves.

The Warriors face struggling Souths next weekend and have the chance to secure their third win on the trot for the first time since 2003.