The Central Coast’s NZ Warriors made an impressive re-start to the 2020 NRL season with an emphatic 18-0 upset win over the Dragons at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday, May 30.
The injury-plagued Warriors adapted to the nine-week lay-off and new game rules to produce greater physicality and an almost flawless match in terms of completions, with 44 consecutive sets up until the final five minutes of the game, a new NRL record.
The Warriors posted their first try after just seven minutes, when Dragon’s fullback, Matt Dufty, fumbled a grubber and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown seized on the loose ball to cross near the posts.
Eliesa Katoa then crashed over in the 24th minute off a wide ball from Kodi Nikorima to take the lead to 12 points.
Peta Hiku left the field late in the first half with a rib injury, and Karl Lawton was forced to play in the centres for the remainder of the game.
But that didn’t stop the Warriors’ onslaught, with a long range movement started and finished by Kodi Nikorima, making it 18-0 in the 54th minute, rewarding coach, Steve Kearney’s, decision to include him in the starting line-up.
The win was particularly satisfying for the Warriors given the sacrifices that the playing group has made in leaving their families behind in New Zealand, spending two weeks in quarantine in Tamworth and enduring a string of injuries to key players.
“I was pretty pleased for the boys.
“We’re really proud of the way they’ve gone about the last couple of months and endured a great deal,” Kearney said after the match.
“It means a great deal, not only to the players, but to all the families back home and the club.”
Sources close to the team said an emotional video from families back in New Zealand spurred the Warriors on ahead of Saturday’s match.
The Dragons remains winless after three matches.
Dragons coach, Paul McGregor, said his players “looked like strangers out there” at times.
“The Warriors ran harder, tackled harder and found their front,” he added.
Despite their own disappointment, the Dragons’ players gathered the Warriors in a huddle at the end of the game to pay respect in what was just the latest show of solidarity from the wider NRL community.
According to the NRL, almost 4.5 million Australians tuned in to watch Round 3 matches across live broadcasters Fox Sports and Channel Nine, making it the fifth-largest TV audience in a regular-season weekend in NRL history.
This does not include what was believed to have been a healthy New Zealand audience for the Warriors-Dragons clash.
The Warriors have also quickly endeared themselves to the NRL-loving people of the Central Coast who are now waiting with bated breath for stadiums to re-open for crowds.
The Warriors will travel to Campbelltown Stadium to play the Panthers on Friday (June 5) before returning to Central Coast Stadium on Friday June 12 for their Round 5 clash against the North Queensland Cowboys.
Reporter: Ross Barry