Storm 14 Warriors 14
The Warriors continue to impress as the excitement machine of the NRL - and as real finals' contenders - after a fast-paced and action-packed overtime draw in Melbourne on Saturday.
They might have won but for the vocal support for the Storm as the refereeing officials considered whether Stacey Jones knocked the ball on before handing it off to Lance Hohaia, who slotted a field goal that rightly should have been a winner for a remarkable consecutive victory in the golden-point period.
Would a referee call a penalty for interference in the play-the-ball because Storm players were all over Nathan Fien as he tried to clear to Jones, who was standing well back in the pocket ready for the shot? Or would they rule that the pass that fell short as a result went straight through Jones' hands and bounced off his shin, so no knock-on?
"They would have torn the house down," was the comment from one of the Warriors' staff. Of course, had the boot been on the other foot, the Mt Smart crowd would be all over the officials too and would quite probably earn a home win.
Coach Ivan Cleary is not a supporter of the golden-point extra period. With the first points scored clinching a result, Cleary said it turned the contest into a lottery. Saturday night's result "sums up golden point, where the rules change", Cleary said. "What you see in the golden point is no decisions made really."
It was Tim Mander in the video review box who made the call that Jones had knocked on before Hohaia hit the target two minutes into the first five minutes of overtime - Mander used to be roundly booed for his error rate at Mt Smart games.
Warriors skipper Steve Price asked the referee, Tony Archer, who did not blow his whistle after the Jones-Hohaia pass and before the successful drop-kick but then sent the incident upstairs, to look back to the play-the-ball to Fien.
"Tony said he would ask the video ref," Price told the Herald yesterday. "When the scrum formed I asked him if he had spoken to the video ref and he said: 'Just get on with it'. That was pretty disappointing."
Jones told his teammates his hands did not touch the ball until after it bounced off his shin. Both Price and Cleary maintained there was good cause to blow the Warriors a penalty for lying in the ruck area before the Fien-Jones pass and to rule benefit of the doubt over the knock-on.
"There haven't been too many penalties given in golden-point time," Price said. "I don't know whether it's something they're not game enough to do or whether it's just the way it goes."
The Storm scored first-half tries to right wing Steve Turner and fullback Billy Slater from the boot of Cooper Cronk and Brett Finch respectively, before Manu Vatuvei produced a trademark three-man bust-and-carry to take the Warriors to 10-6 at the break.
The home team's left wing Anthony Quinn was dragged down by Simon Mannering as he sped towards the tryline. Quinn's head connected with Mannering's knee in the sliding tackle and there were nervous moments as Mannering immediately called for help, Quinn face down prone and twitching in convulsions. He was taken away on a stretcher and spent the night in hospital, but was cleared yesterday of any ongoing injury. Their backrower Kevin Proctor also left the field late in the first half with an ankle problem and did not return.
There were also try-saving tackles by Jones on Quinn and from Jacob Lillyman to stop Brett White.
Centre Will Chambers broke the Warriors line to score just after the break but the visitors held tough and replied through Patrick Ah Van.
Both halfbacks missed field goal attempts late in ordinary time and then in overtime, Jones' second shot returning obliquely off the upright.
There were remarkable statistics, not least Micheal Luck's 72 tackles.
The Warriors out-kicked the Storm 1143m to 787m , while possession was shared 50/50.
The Storm have asked the NRL to make this game an annual Anzac Day fixture. And why wouldn't they after this blockbusting entertainer, by far the best sports show of the weekend?
Storm 14: Turner, Slater, Chambers tries; Cameron Smith 2 goals. Warriors 14: Vatuvei 2, Ah Van tries; Denan Kemp 2 goals.
