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SYDNEY - The New Zealand Warriors relished the shocking conditions to end their six-match National Rugby League (NRL) losing streak with a 12-2 win over Cronulla here tonight.
In biting wind and rain at Toyota Park, the Warriors defended magnificently and scored two tries to none against the previously fifth-placed Sharks to begin their climb from the lower reaches of the points table.
Giant wing Manu Vatuvei, dropped after a nightmare performance against Parramatta last month, sealed the victory when he pounced on a Nathan Fien grubber in the left-hand corner with three minutes remaining.
Superbly led again by State of Origin hero Steve Price, the Warriors scored their first win since April 29 and avoided equalling their record seven consecutive losses in 2000.
The in-form Cronulla began the Warriors' streak, 22-20 in Auckland in early May, and were expected to be too strong at home tonight.
Both sides would rarely have played in worse conditions, with a strong southerly wind and torrential rain buffeting them on Sydney's normally idyllic southern coast.
Warriors coach Ivan Cleary reshuffled his side before kickoff, shifting Kiwis international Simon Mannering and Todd Byrne to the centres, dropping Tony Martin and Lance Hohaia and recalling Louis Anderson to Mannering's spot in the second row.
It seemed the Warriors hadn't done enough with the gale on their backs in the first 40 minutes, leading just 6-2 at halftime.
They at least made someone else do all the early defending, starting strongly with simple, error-free football in Cronulla's half and were rewarded in the 12th minute with the opening try to five-eighth Michael Witt.
Prop Evarn Tuimavave, in for veteran Ruben Wiki who was sidelined with a rib injury, rumbled the ball up and dummy half George Gatis worked a simple decoy play for Witt to stroll over near the posts. He converted his own try.
But the Sharks soaked up the pressure for the rest of the half.
The Warriors weren't scared to keep the ball alive in the wet conditions but Gatis and Sam Rapira both fumbled when trying to push offloads near the Sharks' line.
Sharks goalkicker Luke Covell narrowed the gap to four points with a simple penalty goal just before the break.
Two more tries went begging for the Warriors after the break.
An unmarked Patrick Ah Van dropped a long pass from Witt 10m out after the five-eighth burst clear, then halfback Grant Rovelli was denied when he jinked over under the posts but video referee Phil Cooley ruled Micheal Luck had obstructed a Sharks defender.
But the Sharks' intensity waned as a mountain of defence and the quick five-day backup from their bruising win over St George Illawarra took its toll.
Fullback Wade McKinnon was the rock the Warriors needed in the final minutes as the Sharks bombed away in search of the matchwinner.
The Warriors launched numerous attacks and hammered away at the Sharks who refused to fold, before a jubilant Vatuvei combined with Fien as they finally cracked.
An exhausted Price, fresh from Wednesday's series clinching win for Queensland, insisted it didn't take much to turn around the Warriors' fortunes.
"We haven't been too far off and we've been defending really well but we haven't come up with the points," Price said.
"Tonight it was a real struggle in the wet conditions, we defended well again and we got the tries when we had to."
After 34 hit-ups tonight, Price was certain he'd sleep well.
"When we scored the last try, Michael Witt was trying to get me excited but I was too tired. But you've got to back up from those bigger games for your team, particularly in the position we were in losing six in a row."
New Zealand Warriors 12 (Michael Witt, Manu Vatuvei tries; Witt 2 goals) Cronulla 2 (Luke Covell goal). Halftime: 6-2.
- NZPA
