Winning ugly not a pretty look for Warriors

Warriors player Ryan Hoffman in action against the Knights. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Warriors are finding ways to win but need to learn to shut the door on teams earlier, says back-rower Ryan Hoffman.

Yesterday's 24-20 victory over the Newcastle Knights was the Warriors' third in a row, but the result remained in the balance up until the final whistle, as it did in both their last-minute win over Cronulla and the golden point thriller against Parramatta last month.

Despite leading the under-strength Knights by 10 points or more at three different stages - 14-4 in the first half, 20-8 shortly after the break, and 24-14 inside the last quarter - the Warriors couldn't put the visitors away.

"I think we're the ugliest team at the moment with the way we've had our wins," Hoffman said.

"We should have finished tonight a hell of a lot better than what we did.

"I thought we had it under control but we need to finish these wins a lot better.

"As a team and for us to go forward we need to be a bit cleaner with how we finish.
Each time the Warriors put themselves into a position to seal the result, mistakes or penalties gave the Knights opportunities and some soft defence saw them capitalise.

And although they need to be more clinical, Hoffman was pleased the Warriors were gritty enough to hold on for the win in the face of Newcastle's brave challenge.

"A lesser team may have crumbled at the end there and really started to panic but we did what he had to do to win," he said.

"And come the end of the season we won't be looking at how we got those two points, it will just be that we got them.

"But two points is two points, and you never get too disappointed winning football games. We've built ourselves a nice little streak and it's up to us to keep it going."

Backing up after playing a full 80 minutes in last Wednesday's State of Origin opener, in which he made 108 metres and 31 tackles, Hoffman put in another full shift for the Warriors, contributing 74 metres and 19 tackles.

The 31-year-old admitted to being "tired and sore" but had no qualms about clocking up 160 minutes of game time in four days.

"It's what you do. You've got a responsibility to your club to back up and they're the blokes that help you get rep jumpers in the first place, so you've got a responsibility to them to make sure you get there, because that's what true Origin players do."

Hoffman had no hesitation in singling out fellow back-rower Bodene Thompson as the Warriors' best.

After scoring the match-winning try in extra time against the Eels a fortnight ago, the former Gold Coast and Wests Tigers player had maintained his strong form, plowing through 108 metres and 40 tackles and looking threatening out on the right side together with halfback Shaun Johnson.

"He was the best player out there tonight. He was absolutely outstanding and he's been doing it for us all season.

"He's one of those, you don't want to call them unsung heroes, because his teammates, we really appreciate what he does and we recognise what he does. He was the best player on the park tonight."