Mitchell Barnett in possession during the Warriors' loss to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Photo / Photosport
Warriors 10
Sea Eagles 24
Warriors fans can put their calculators away.
It was going to take a miracle for the side to make the top eight after their loss to the Dolphins last Sunday, but a 24-10 loss to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles last night definitively scrubbed them from the conversation.
In a game of fine margins, it was the hosts who enjoyed some hometown cooking.
On at least three occasions, the Warriors knocked the ball on inside the Manly 20 with plays left to use. While they got across the line four times, two of those were rightly ruled out – one due to an obstruction and the other a knock-on in the grounding.
And when the skies opened up midway through the second half, it seemed simply completing a full set of six was a tall task.
They were in the hunt for much of the game – level at 10 at halftime – but they couldn’t buck their season trend of errors and execution being their downfall in close encounters.
Manly had their struggles too, with five errors and four penalties in the first half alone, but when they got an opportunity, they took it. A Daly Cherry-Evans 40/20 early led to a Jason Saab try. A beautiful play from Luke Brooks to open up a hole saw Tommy Talau crash through and set up Tom Trbojevic for a long-range try. Reuben Garrick beat out Marcelo Montoya to score from a Cherry-Evans bomb. Lehi Hopoate finishing off a long passing passage the final blow in the Warriors’ season.
The Warriors made some late changes ahead of the contest. Freddy Lussick started with Wayde Egan ruled out due to an elbow injury and Luke Metcalf was given the start at five-eighths, moving Chanel Harris-Tavita to the bench.
Both Lussick and Metcalf played their parts well; Metcalf getting heavily involved in the attack and using his speed and footwork to good effect, and Lussick defending well and sniping from dummy half.
Addin Fonua-Blake, departing the club at the end of the season, continued his strong campaign on both sides of the ball; a beautiful offload to set up a Shaun Johnson try the highlight.
At times in the contest, it felt like the Warriors were on top. In the first 10 minutes of both halves, the Warriors looked strong and had chances to test the Manly line, but were unable to crack it.
When the Warriors did crash over to score, they were chasing the game both times.
After Garrick’s try in the 53rd minute and weather taking a sharp turn for the worse, the Warriors couldn’t get anything going and ultimately were held scoreless in the second half.
With another loss on the record, 2024 becomes a case of what might have been for the Warriors.
NZ Warriors 10 (Shaun Johnson, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak tries; Luke Metcalf con)
Manly Sea Eagles 24 (Jason Saab, Tom Trbojevic, Reuben Garrick, Lehi Hopoate tries; Garrick 3 cons, pen)
HT: 10-10
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist joins the renewed franchise.