Panthers 40
Warriors 12
The jury is still well and truly out on the Warriors after they were smashed to pieces by the vastly superior Penrith Panthers yesterday.
Playing with the prospect of marking themselves as a genuine NRL contender after the first quarter of the season, the Warriors looked anything but a finals-quality team.
After failing to follow a rousing away victory with anything like a satisfactory home effort for the second time this season, they certainly can't be accused of playing with consistency.
They may have failed yesterday's test miserably, but the Warriors might at least take solace from the fact that it was a tough one.
The Panthers asked all the questions, the Warriors had no answers as the visitors posted a third straight win with a dominant all-round effort. They beat the Warriors on the ground, beat them in the air, out-kicked, out-muscled and out-enthused them.
The Warriors' only joy came in a brief second-half revival that produced tries to Ukuma Ta'ai and Brent Tate. Other than that it was one-way traffic.
"The first half was just schoolboy stuff to be honest," stand-in captain Tate said of an opening half that saw the Warriors ship 22 points without looking like posting a reply.
"It was pretty embarrassing to be honest. It was one of those days where everything we did we were going away from the plan. I think we were trying to score off every play and that is just not possible in this game. Our completion rate was pathetic."
Wing Kevin Locke had a day to forget. He was hardly alone on that score but his ineffectiveness led directly to the first two Panthers tries.
Centre Adrian Purtell outjumped Locke to score the opener from a pinpoint Luke Walsh kick, while standout winger Brad Tighe burst through the young Kiwi's weak tackle to set up a 70m try finished by hooker Kevin Kingston.
The Warriors' response to the early pressure was bumbling. They coughed up the ball on early tackles, gave away penalties and took poor options. Lance Hohaia's ill-fated attempt to run the ball on the last tackle inside his own half led directly to the third Panthers try, with Purtell again winning the aerial battle to provide a knockdown for Lachlan Coote.
Granted the freedom of Mt Smart by a Warriors defence that seemed not to have heard of the concept of kick pressure, Walsh kept the ball on a string. Another pinpoint bomb created a fourth try, for Michael Gordon, as the Warriors failed to adequately protect fullback Wade McKinnon.
A second-half Warriors surge created brief hope that another spectacular NRL comeback might be about to unfold, but those hopes vanished as the Warriors' handling woes resurfaced and their tempo again flatlined.
There was an element of fortune in the try that killed the game as a contest, with Locke harshly ruled to have played at a ball that deflected off his hand on the sixth tackle to allow Travis Burns to muscle over shortly after.
They may have been on the wrong side of a poor refereeing effort, but the Warriors didn't do anything to make their own luck. Even the most staunch of the 14,620 home supporters would be hard pressed to argue their side didn't get exactly what they deserved.
Coach Ivan Cleary may well ponder the wisdom of leaving out prop Russell Packer to accommodate the return of centre Jerome Ropati.
Instead of attempting to meet fire with fire, Cleary opted to combat the massive Panthers pack with a surplus of little men. The result would suggest leaving the propping rotation short-handed was a mistake, although so vast was the gulf between the sides it was doubtful Packer's presence could have made much difference.
The result leaves the Warriors in a familiar position, needing to bounce back on a tough road assignment next Sunday in Melbourne after again falling flat at home. Their prospects of doing that may well depend on whether any of their galaxy of injured stars return to the fold.
The rollercoaster ride continues.
