The New Zealand Warriors season is back on track after Shaun Johnson and David Fusitu’a starred to guide them to victory over the Manly Sea Eagles.
Johnson, playing in game 150 of his career, started slowly but produced a second half display to be proud of.
It was Manly who took a game to Christchurch’s AMI Stadium, although the 34-14 loss meant it was not a good trip for them.
Their loss was compounded by a possible broken foot for Apisai Koroisau, as well as a leg injury to Matt Wright.
It was Manly who went up 8-0 after Koroisau burrowed over from dummy half before Daly Cherry-Evans slotted a penalty goal.
From there, the Warriors took control of the match and scored 34 unanswered points.
The Warriors first try came after young back-rower Isaiah Papali’i strolled over to score.
This was soon followed by a score to fellow back-rower Tohu Harris in similar fashion.
The Warriors went into the break leading before the onslaught in the second half only got worse.
Johnson got on the scoresheet in game 150, backing up David Fusitu’a who streaked past the Manly defence and finding Johnson inside.
From there, Fusitu’a then scored a hat-trick in nine minutes, as the Warriors quickly put the game to bed.
Barrett was honest post-match, stating that his side was not good enough to win with errors and lapses costing them.
“Losing Api was a big blow for us but fundamental mistakes and concentration lapses at crucial times hurt us in the end and they (Warriors) played well,” Barrett said.
“Api is one of our best players, not only from an attacking point of view but defensively. He holds our line speed pretty well.
“I thought Matty Wright to play 65 minutes at hooker did a good job for us but we obviously missed Api.”
A lot of the plaudits went to David Fusitu’a for his hat-trick but Warriors coach Stephen Kearney was quick to praise Ken Maumalo.
“A lot of those finishes that Dave is the recipient of, Ken starts them down the other end, the middles do a job through the middle and then obviously David gets the praise,” Kearney said.
“He is a good finisher but I think that David would be the first to admit that without the work of Ken he doesn’t get those opportunities.
“I think both of those guys have done a tremendous job for us all season, I know the opposition come with a plan to try and stop them because they are real momentum builders.”
Player of the Game:
3. Shaun Johnson
2. David Fusitu’a
- Blake Green