WARRIORS 14
SHARKS 18
The Boomtown Rats once sang, I Don't Like Mondays but the Warriors might like to change it to Saturdays.
Tonight they lost their 10th-straight game on a Saturday but, more importantly, their defeat to Cronulla put a serious dent in their playoff ambitions. They are still ninth but their awful points differential means they are effectively another whole win behind teams on the same competition points.
It was only their second defeat in their last nine games - and second at Mt Smart Stadium this season - but an efficient Sharks side deserved to win. The visitors largely controlled the match, apart from a 10-minute period late in the game when the Warriors scored two late tries to set up a grandstand finish, against a side that looked a shadow of the one that impressed over the past eight weeks.
The Warriors looked flat as they struggled to find any rhythm and build any pressure. They regularly coughed up the ball when in the past weeks the passes stuck, often ran too laterally and gave away silly penalties at inopportune times.
Last week they made just five errors in their win 30-22 against Melbourne - in today's opening 20 minutes they had already made four.
It took the good 15,209-strong crowd out of the equation until the last 10 minutes and played into the Sharks' hands.
Todd Carney played the role of the conductor as he controlled proceedings with his kicking game and clever passes and often chose the point of attack. Shaun Johnson, in contrast, was off colour as he had issues with his hands but he might have won the game for the Warriors when he broke clear in the 76th minute only to heave the ball over the sideline with Konrad Hurrell with a clear run to the line.
The Warriors had clawed their way back into the game with tries to Hurrell, who bulldozed over a couple of defenders, and Manu Vatuvei who climbed high to snatch a Johnson bomb in the corner, but gave the visitors too much of a headstart.
Carney was often at the forefront of Cronulla's attacks. He repeatedly attacked the Warriors' right edge which has been so vulnerable all season and it paid dividends inside 10 minutes when he delayed the pass to Jonathan Wright who breezed past Hurrell.
The Sharks extended their lead with a simple set-play move more commonly seen on the rugby union field. Paul Gallen picked up from the base of the scrum and passed inside to Ben Pomeroy who ran in virtually unopposed.
At this stage, the Warriors weren't in the game but they started to get in the grind and actually finished the half the better of the two sides. Vatuvei crossed for his 113th and almost obligatory try in the 28th minute when Dane Nielsen created space for him with a jinking run and a couple of others came close.
Cronulla controlled things again from the restart and scored through winger Nathan Stapleton in the 47th minute, finishing off a move started by Andrew Fifita in his own half, and were unlucky not to be awarded another when Sosaia Feki ghosted in behind Ngani Laumape to stab the ball ahead and touch down but he was judged to have touched the sideline.
The Warriors still have five games remaining to sneak into the top eight but have a difficult assignment next weekend away to Manly. Ominously, it's also on a Saturday.
Warriors 14 (Manu Vatuvei 2, Konrad Hurrell tries; Shaun Johnson gl) Sharks 18 (Jonathan Wright, Ben Pomeroy, Nathan Stapleton tries; Todd Carney 3 gls). HT: 4-10.
