Warriors on a roll as they wallop Roosters in NRL 2008 finals
September 20, 2008
Friday night in Auckland the Warriors defeated the Roosters 30-13 to setup a clash with Manly for a grand final berth. The match was played in front of a sell out crowd of 25,585 in Auckland.
Last week who would have thought the Warriors would still be in the race for the 2008 NRL trophy? They were just two minutes away from elimination. Making the most of their opportunity the Warriors opened the scoring against the Roosters after just three minutes.
A last tackle play grubber kick hit the padding on the left goal post and Lance Hohaia was on hand to dive over. There was several minutes of video ref analysis before the try was given. There was some doubt if the try scorer had interfered with a Roosters chaser and if the Warriors no. 9 was offside. Technically he was however they decided he did not interfere with play. The conversion made it 6-0.
The Roosters did not let this early set back slow them down and they took it to the Warriors. Great defence kept the Sydney team out until eventually the weight of possession was too much for the Warriors.
A Mitchell Pearce 40-20 kick gave the Roosters a repeat set of six and from that set the young halfback was able to take on three Warrior defenders close to the line to go in for a try. It was more a try you would see a forward score. The conversion tied the scores at 6-6 after 30 minutes.
Just minutes later the Roosters would go in again. This time they try came from long range. A good backline movement saw Sia Soliola kick ahead. The ball took a wicked bounce for the Warriors fullback Hohaia and Minichiello was able to toe ahead. In the race to the ball he was held back slightly. The decision went to the video ref and to the dismay of the crowd in the stadium a penalty try was awarded. It was a borderline decision. If Minchiello did not have his right arm held he most likely would have scored however there was some doubt. He still had to gather the bouncing ball and force it. With the conversion from right in front the score was 12-6.
The Roosters were not able to cross again in the first half and as time wound down they took the field goal option to send the sides into halftime with the Roosters ahead 13-6.
In the second half the Warriors came out firing. Their defence stepped it up a notch and they pounded the Roosters in attack just running out of dummyhalf. They got back to back sets of six early in the half and took advantage of that and Hohaia scored his second try for the match as he threw a dummy to evade Craig Fitzgibbon.
The early try seemed to send the Roosters into panic mode. Even though there was plenty of time they started throwing the ball around and went from side to side instead of straight like the Warriors were playing. The teams traded the ball for several sets before the Warriors got a glut of possession. This was too much for the Roosters. The Warriors got over the line but the player was held up.
With more possession it was not long until the Warriors again crossed. This time the hooker appeared to have lost the ball over the line. It went to the video ref. After many different replays the video ref finally awarded the try giving the benefit of the doubt to the Warriors and Ian Henderson was awarded the try. The Michael Witt conversion took the score to 18-13.
Again possession was telling. A kick in goal by the Warriors was casually picked up by Minichiello. He had been hoping the ball would go dead. By the time he grabbed it he was surrounded by Warriors. From the dropout that followed the Warriors worked a good play and a nice cut out pass to Manu Vatuvei saw the big winger run 10m to cross out wide. A great conversion followed.
This was pretty much the end for the Roosters. The crowd was now going wild however with 18 minutes still on the clock there was time.
As the Roosters had not scored in the second half and there was only five minutes left in the match the Warriors now had the Roosters on the ropes. The visiting team spread the ball looking to get back into the match. They were looking good as a back line move took place to get an overlap only to see the Warriors Aidan Kirk grab an intercept and race about 80m down field to score the knockout blow. The conversion came and it was 30-13 to the New Zealand Warriors.
Once again the Roosters had let a reasonable first half lead slip in the second half as they went scoreless. The match was basically a repeat of the Brisbane game from a week ago. The Warriors did dominate possession in the second half and they made the most of that.
The Warriors march on. They deserved the win and they will now take on Manly next weekend for a grand final spot.
The other NRL final for the weekend sees the Melbourne Storm travel to Brisbane to take on the Broncos. The match is scheduled to kickoff at 7.45pm. The winner will play Cronulla who like Manly have the week off.
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