NRL: Cleary happy with opening hit out

Brett Seymour impressed in his first outing for the Warriors yesterday. Photo / Greg Bowker

New Zealand Warriors coach Ivan Cleary was a satisfied man after they kicked off their 2010 rugby league season with a 26-8 trial win over the Sydney Roosters in Rotorua last night.

The Warriors produced a strong second half while another encouraging feature was halfback Brett Seymour's impressive first outing for his new club.

After stints with Brisbane and Cronulla, Seymour was handed the captaincy on debut and looked accomplished in all he did in the 55 minutes he had on the field.

"It was typical of a first hit-out of the season but there were plenty of things to be pleased about," Cleary said.

"Some of our young players really impressed and I thought we controlled the game well in the second half after a bit of a scratchy period in the second quarter.

"Brett Seymour was very good with his all-round game and the way he organised the side."

Seymour wasn't just having his first game for his new club but his first outing in more than eight months.

As well as that, he was handed the captaincy on debut and looked accomplished in all he did in the 55 minutes he had on the field.

After winger Kevin Locke climbed to snaffle a James Maloney bomb for the opening try in the ninth minute, the Warriors conceded two tries in the second quarter to trail 4-8 with halftime in sight.

But in the dying seconds, dummy half Aaron Heremaia sniped not once but twice from dummy half and speared through for a try that took his side to a 10-8 lead on the back of Seymour's conversion.

There was just one try again in the third quarter for the home side, a delightful flick pass from Alehana Mara handing centre Patrick Ah Van a try wide out which Locke failed to convert.

With an improved completion rate and better execution, the Warriors stitched together a convincing final quarter with two tries, the first the most spectacular of the match.

Given space down the left wing, Bill Tupou cut down the touchline, finding his centre partner Joel Moon in support. Collared near the line, Moon hurled the ball infield, Heremaia there backing up for his second try of the day.

Close to fulltime, back-rower Jacob Lillyman was try-bound after an angled run onto a short ball. As he was trying to get the ball down, he had it stripped and Ukuma Ta'ai pounced for a try.

The only possible negative for the Warriors was a knee injury which forced hooker Ian Henderson off the field in the final quarter.

Cleary said the injury would have to be fully assessed but he said Henderson might be in doubt for the opening round of the NRL season next month.

- NZPA