KEY POINTS:
Giant winger Manu Vatuvei today continued his rich try-scoring form as the New Zealand Warriors maintained their unbeaten home record in this season's National Rugby League (NRL).
Vatuvei grabbed a brace to take his try tally to six in just five matches and help the Warriors to down the Bulldogs 36-16 in Auckland.
The result gave the Warriors their third win at Mt Smart Stadium this year and took them into the competition's top eight.
But they had to come from behind against a side for whom second rower Sonny Bill Williams was, as expected, a constant threat with his offloading ability.
The Warriors made a flying start, scoring on their very first use of the football, with winger Patrick Ah Van claiming a Grant Rovelli bomb to dot down.
In the swirling wind, Michael Witt had a rare miss with the conversion attempt, but the home side went further ahead when Vatuvei ran through some weak defence to score.
This time, Witt converted to take the score to 10-0.
The Warriors dominated the first quarter and continued to create chances, but frustrated the 15,952 crowd by being unable to convert them.
One of the best came when centre Brent Tate forced his way over, only to be denied by a fine smothering tackle by Kiwis half Ben Roberts.
The Warriors paid for their failure to make more of their chances, as the Bulldogs hit back with two tries, Williams playing a key hand in both.
One Williams offload deep in his own territory created the opening for Patten to score against the run of play.
Another Williams offload again opened up the home defence and Roberts finished off the move.
Hazem El Masri converted both tries to give the Bulldogs a 12-10 halftime lead.
The Sydneysiders maintained their momentum after the interval, camping inside the opposition half, only to be repelled by some staunch defence.
Having absorbed the pressure, the Warriors turned the match with quick converted tries.
On 58 minutes, Vatuvei finished off a length of the field attack for his second touchdown.
Five minutes later, skipper Ruben Wiki forced his way past three tacklers.
Witt converted both and added a penalty to take the margin out to 24-12.
The Bulldogs closed the gap through winger Heka Nanai with 10 minutes to go, but fullback Lance Hohaia and young second rower Sonny Fai confirmed the victory with the Warriors' fifth and six tries.
Result of a National Rugby League (NRL) match at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland today:
New Zealand Warriors 36 (Manu Vatuvei 2, Patrick Ah Van, Ruben Wiki, Lance Hohaia, Sonny Fai, tries; Michael Witt 6 goals) Bulldogs 16 (Luke Patten, Ben Roberts, Heka Nanai tries; Hazem El Masri 2 goals) Halftime: 10-12.
- NZPA
