Warriors 30
Roosters 24
The Warriors finally threw off their offensive shackles, racking up a season-high 30 points yesterday against the hapless Roosters to snap a three-match losing streak in Sydney.
The win was just the New Zealand team's second on Australian soil this season - a run that stretched back to round two against Manly.
While the two competition points gathered won't have done a lot for their playoff prospects - they remain five points adrift of eighth place - they will go a long way to ensuring the club avoids the wooden spoon.
That dubious distinction now looks odds-on to go to the Roosters, who remain stuck at the foot of the table and, with Brad Fittler's exit confirmed over the weekend, must now play out the season with a lame-duck coach.
There was plenty from which to take cheer in yesterday's effort. Wade McKinnon's 80m match winner rekindled memories of the pre-knee reconstruction fullback. He still appears short a yard of pace, but there was no lack of determination as McKinnon stepped around Ben Jones and fended off Sam Perrett to return Mitchell Pearce's kick for a try just when it seemed his side had suffered yet another fatal late fade-out.
It was the first sign in some time that the one-time regular match-winner might yet return to his best.
Another to nail his colours to the mast was debutant Isaac John, who stuck to his task and produced some telling touches.
In the pack, Sam Rapira rumbled 126m from 14 hit-ups and contributed 25 tackles.
The Warriors went into the match without Kevin Locke, who suffered a shoulder injury last week against the Bulldogs. He is expected to be fit to face St George on Sunday.
John endured a torrid start to his first-grade career. Monstered and bundled into touch by Willie Mason on his first carry, he was then steamrollered by the giant second rower as he posted the game's opening try.
Mason was also instrumental in the Roosters' second, sucking in a handful of Warriors inside the 20.
A quick play-the-ball allowed Pearce to prise open the defence with a neat over-the-top pass, five-eight Ben Jones providing the simple finish.
In a 12-0 hole after just 15 minutes, the Warriors looked ripe for a flogging. But a Shaun Kenny-Dowell fumble handed them some much needed field position, which Simon Mannering converted into points with a strong finish from a Joel Moon offload.
A Pearce try settled the Roosters, but once again the Warriors hit back, John creating a more positive impression with a clever pass behind Kenny-Dowell to send Patrick Ah Van over in the corner.
Ah Van made the most of his late call-up to replace Locke, carving through the Roosters' defence to begin the second half. A tackle later Manu Vatuvei won the contest for a Jones cross kick and burrowed over.
Vatuvei's second, a bullocking effort to finish a chance created by Ben Matulino's strong carry, put the Warriors in front for the first time.
Centre Tom Symonds scored to put the Roosters back in front. But then came McKinnon, providing the spark that has been so badly missing for much of the season.
