Ravi Nyayapati – 
Sunday’s (July 12) humbling of bigwigs Melbourne Storm by the New Zealand Warriors has to be one of the sweetest memories that more than 17,000 fans at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland and several more thousands elsewhere will cherish for a long time.
Going into the big round 18 clash, anxiety and nervousness were two emotions that they battled with, knowing how good the opponents were.
Regulars Ryan Hoffman and Konrad Hurrell were earlier ruled out due to injuries. However, the announcement of Manu Vatuvai’s late withdrawal resulted in more butterflies in the stomach.
Skilful play
Within five minutes from start, Siliva Havili settled nerves of 17,000 supporters with his skilful display – only to be denied a try by the Third Match Official (TMO) for judging a knock on. Soon after that David Fusitu’a produced an exceptional run of play before Tuimoala Lolohea scored the opening try.
With Warriors in the lead, a positive wave of inspiration and hope soon engulfed the stands at Mt Smart stadium. The ear-splitting encouragement seemed to have worked on the players who put up one of their best games yet this season.
A desperate Warriors defence then saw Richard Kennar denied a try for the Storm.
Spectacular try
Moments later Storm’s defence was put under scrutiny again and Warriors capitalised with a splendid build up, leading to a spectacular dive on the right edge by Fusitu’a.
Storm fought hard but were denied a try again when Blake Green’s attempt was ruled out. ‘Speedy Gonzales’ Shaun Johnson soon manoeuvred his way through the Storm defence only to be stopped by a Goliath defence effort from Marika Koroibete.
Moments later, Thompson buddied with Bodene Thompson and ensured a crucial 16-0 lead going into half-time helped by Storm’s denial of a try for the 3rd time by the TMO at the cusp of half-time.
Missed conversions
Very early into the second half, Marika Koroibete opened the score for Storm.
Ten minutes later, Kenneath Bromwich scored their second.
Storm missed both conversions but with the score at 16-8, Storm were certainly back in the game and looked to up the ante.
The comeback by the Warriors was breath-taking. It was a moment one would not see that easily again, if ever.
After an unintended tipping by Storms’ Kenny Bromwich, Hooker Nathan Friend defied gravity to offload the ball through his legs while doing a backflip to Sam Tomkins.
Sassy moves
Tomkins then worked some sassy moves with Halfback Johnson to help a diving Tuimoala Lolohea score in the corner again, and thereby finishing off what Social media has been trending as the ‘try of the year.’
The athleticism and quick thinking, given the pace and intensity of the game, is what makes this one of the greatest tries of all time.
Cheering from the crowd was electrifying at this point.
Johnson soon followed up with try and conversion to take the score to 26-14.
A penalty goal to the Warriors in the last few minutes took the score to 28-14, resulting in the Warriors handing the Melbourne side their fourth straight defeat in a row.
Impressive show
From start to finish, this was a Warriors show.
They talked of working on their defence prior to the game and they surely did a great job of it. Considering the win was without three of their most valuable players, this was an exceptionally special outing for them.
New Zealand Warriors 28 (T Lolohea 2, D Fusitu’a, B Thompson, S Johnson; S Johnson
3-5 cons, 1-2 pens) d Melbourne Storm 14 (M Koroibete; C Smith 1-3 cons).
Photo :
David Fusitu’a scores a try for Vodafone Warriors at their clash with Melbourne Storm at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on July 12.
