The Warriors were coasting nicely but clocked off, allowing Jeff Robson to score two tries in four minutes as the Sharks snatched the lead. For all their promise and potential, these mental lapses will continue to handicap their development.
Just like after the loss to the Tigers in round eleven, the Warriors will now have an unfortunate fortnight to dwell on this result. It has been a tendency of this season, taking two steps forward and one back.
McClennan surprised a few with his starting 13, leaving the heavy artillery of Ben Matulino, Feleti Mateo and Jacob Lillyman on the bench, as well as choosing to delay Micheal Luck's return.
The Sharks were weakened by the late withdrawals of Paul Gallen and Wade Graham, though they had beaten the Storm and Titans without their talismanic captain.
Omar Slaimankhel made the worst possible start to his long awaited debut, dropping the ball on his third touch after a casual carry into contact.
The Sharks opened the scoring one tackle later, Ben Pomeroy finishing strongly in the corner in the sixth minute. The Warrior's reply was swift, with Kevin Locke stealing into the in goal ahead of the Sharks defenders to - apparently - get a fingernail on a precise Shaun Johnson grubber six minutes later.
The home side, who had only lost once at Toyota Park this year before last night's clash, then enjoyed a sustained spell of possession, including three successive goal line drop outs by the Warriors.
The Warriors were under the pump, physically spent but the first half turned on a touch of Maloney brilliance. He found touch with the third of those dropouts, allowing the Warriors to regain possession in improbable circumstances.
They dominated the rest of the half, scoring again - Johnson claiming a Maloney bomb for the second time this season (it is hard to recall a halves combination in NRL history that kick for each other in that way) - and Maloney later kicked a rare field goal. With his second conversion, he also brought up 500 points, only the second Warrior to achieve the mark (after Stacey Jones), a staggering feat after just two and half years (and 65 games) at Mt Smart.
As always there were frustrating errors. The Warriors did brilliantly to force a drop out, only to cough the ball up on the first tackle.
Later a towering Maloney bomb forced a knock on, but the Warriors would forfeit possession on the first tackle.
Hurrell's seventh try in five games was significant and timely. The Tongan has looked much more comfortable since returning from a brief stint with the Vulcans and the way he powered through three defenders - from a standing start with no momentum in the 51st minute - was a frightening display of brute force.
For one of the few times this year the Warriors looked comfortable over the last half hour. They had a handy lead, were completing their sets and the Sharks looked disorganised. But ultimately it was too good to be true.
Jeff Robson slid over under the posts in the 69th minute, after a strong burst from Jeremy Smith. Carney launched a booming 40/20 two minutes later and Sharks had real momentum.
Robson stepped past three forwards in the 73rd minute to score a soft, coach-killing type of try. It was also an unhappy return for Micheal Luck, who left the field with a leg injury in the second half.
