NRL: Warriors climb ladder speedily

Billy Slater of the Storm (right) tackles Brent Tate of the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

A top-four finish and home finals footy beckon for the Warriors after they smothered the dejected Melbourne Storm 13-6 at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

While a fifth defeat in six matches was just more pain for a Storm side mired in an endless cycle of misery, the win lifted the Warriors inside the top four.

The Roosters' comeback victory over the Bulldogs yesterday dropped them to fifth but, even so, the last time the club occupied such a lofty ladder position at this stage of the season was in 2007.

That year they had 20 points after 19 rounds and went on to finish fourth before bowing out with two straight finals defeats to the Eels and Cowboys.

This season the Warriors have already compiled 24 points. Two of those additional points have come courtesy of an extra bye, but even so the resurgent Warriors are a win ahead of their 2007 pace.

Captain Simon Mannering said his players weren't yet spending too much time pondering the ladder. If they did, they would discover they are now in prime position to forge a top-four finish and return finals football to Mt Smart for the first time since the 30-13 semifinal victory over the Roosters in 2008.

"I'm sure as it gets closer to the end of the season we'll have a [look] where we are," Mannering said.

"As of now we have just been taking each week as it comes and that has been working for us. The two points add up and if you keep winning you are going to be moving up."

Unless, of course, you are the Storm. An outraged Melbourne hammered the Warriors in round seven just days after the salary cap scandal broke but this time around the disgraced club was unable to muster much more than an occasional whimper.

Early tries to Manu Vatuvei and Jerome Ropati put the Warriors in charge and, though they went into their shells and invited the once potent Storm back into the match, no comeback was forthcoming.

It could have been different had Greg Inglis not bombed a try or Cooper Cronk not been fractionally offside as he chased and brilliantly caught Matt Duffie's centring kick just moments after Billy Slater's dummy half scoot had cut a 12-point deficit in half.

Instead James Maloney sealed the result with a booming field goal in the closing minutes.

Had the Warriors blown it they would have only had themselves to blame for not even attempting to land a knockout blow. After a bright opening they reverted to a steady diet of dummy half runs (30 in total) or one-out play. And despite early success from a kick to Vatuvei's wing they then curiously directed their aerial assault right - where the towering Greg Inglis was stationed.

"I don't think there was a call out there that we were trying to be conservative," Mannering said. "That was just the way the game was going. Whenever you play Melbourne it is not going to blow out. Even though we got two early tries they were always going to come back at us."

Not this Storm side. Not now. Their captain Cameron Smith insisted his players' hearts were in it, however coach Craig Bellamy all-but conceded their minds weren't. Bellamy curiously joined his son in New Zealand on holiday on Tuesday, while his players didn't fly out until Friday - a day later than usual.

Hardly the actions of a team hell bent on winning.

"We are not playing for two points, we can afford to do that a little bit," Bellamy conceded.

In fairness the Storm didn't lack for effort. It was their once unrivalled execution that let them down.

Smith, who with Slater was subjected to vociferous booing throughout, conceded three months of drama had taken its toll.

"It's hard but in the end we are out there to win," he said. "At 12-0 down people sitting at home could think 'they could just give up here because it doesn't matter'. But it does matter. Your pride matters, your pride for your club matters and your pride for your teammates matters.

"It is not advantageous to just go out and play like bums."

For the Warriors it was a case of another crucial two points earned and a good measure of revenge gained for the round seven flogging.

"The senior guys don't forget that sort of stuff," coach Ivan Cleary said.

"It was probably more embarrassment really. We were just a sideshow and no professional worth his salt likes to feel like that."

Sideshow no more, the Warriors will be starting to believe they just might be good enough to be part of the big show on October 3.

"It was pretty important to keep this roll that we are on going," Maloney said. "Spirits are high. We are going all right.

"But we know it can all come crashing down with one loss.

"So we'll keep trying to build this momentum we've got and keep playing footy."