Defying an overcrowded casualty ward, a star-studded Broncos line-up and a late collapse, the Warriors pulled off a scrappy, courageous 20-18 golden point victory at a sodden Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
The Warriors scored four tries to three and poor goalkicking looked set to ruin the night as the Broncos steamed home from 18-6 down with two converted tries in the last 15 minutes, until Luke Metcalf knocked over a historic 50-metre penalty goal in extra-time.
Sticking to the program, the Warriors’ low-risk, high-discipline approach paid dividends again, enjoying 54 percent possession on the back of an 84 percent completion rate (to the Broncos’ 69 percent). In a match where almost every other stat-line finished close enough to even, a 10-4 penalty count in the hosts’ favour also proved vital.
The Warriors’ rare 4-2 platform bodes well for a Top 8 finish, having reached the finals in five of just six other seasons they have won four or five of their first six games.
The Warriors went 5-1 in 2003 and 2018, and 4-2 in 1996 (the only time they started this well and failed to make the playoffs), 2002, 2007 and 2023.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are sitting in the top four at the end of a round for just the 68th time in 760 weeks of regular-season competition since the start of 1995.
Golden moment
Metcalf’s penalty goal from halfway helped bury the memories of the Warriors’ golden point pain in 2024, when they drew with Manly at home and went down to Canterbury and the Dolphins via a field goal on the road.
The 166th NRL golden point game since the concept was introduced in 2003 saw the Warriors draw level with North Queensland for the most golden point encounters any club has been involved in (26).
In terms of win percentage, the Warriors are 12th on the NRL’s all-time golden point ladder with nine wins, 12 losses and a record five draws.
Metcalf’s magnificent strike doubled as the Warriors’ maiden golden point penalty goal. Previous extra-time triumphs have come via field goals on five occasions – with Stacey Jones kicking two and Shaun Johnson three – and tries to Bodene Thompson, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Johnson.
It’s the first time since RTS’s memorable runaway against the Roosters in 2016 that a player other than Johnson has scored in golden point for the Warriors.
Leka on a streak
After scoring his first NRL try in instantly iconic fashion against Wests Tigers in Round 3, second-row sensation Leka Halasima has now dotted down in both games since.
The second-row sensation’s tryscoring run evokes memories of Ukuma Ta’ia’s unlikely 2010 streak, when the interchange forward regular crossed in four straight games. Making Ta’ai’s feat more remarkable, he only scored in three of his other 48 NRL appearances.
All eyes will be on destructive teenager Halasima in coming weeks as he attempts to nudge his way onto the following Warriors all-time leaderboard:
MOST CONSECUTIVE GAMES SCORING A TRY BY A WARRIORS PLAYER
7 games – Francis Meli (2004)
7 games – Todd Byrne (2005)
7 games – Manu Vatuvei (2010)
7 games – Konrad Hurrell (2012)
6 games – Jerome Ropati (2007)
6 games – Manu Vatuvei (2013)
6 games – Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (2023)
Reining in the Broncos
The all-time rivalry ledger now reads 27 wins to the Broncos and 22 to the Warriors with one drawn after 50 encounters.
The Broncos were the last team the Warriors got off the mark against after entering the premiership in 1995, famously losing their first nine clashes before breaking the duck in 2001.
That means since the 0-9 start, the Warriors boast a 22-18-1 record against the perennial heavyweights.
Newcastle’s NZ Knightmares
Newcastle heads over to Christchurch for an Anzac Day showdown with the Warriors in deep trouble, outscored 100 points to 24 on their current four-match losing trot.
The ledger since 1995 is square after 51 encounters, the clubs winning 25 games apiece with one drawn.
The Knights have not had much luck in New Zealand in recent times, winning just one of 10 games in the Warriors’ homeland since 2013 (nine at Mount Smart Stadium, one in Wellington) and two of their last 17.
Ahead of what will likely be the last-ever NRL match played at Rugby League Park (Apollo Projects Stadium) at Addington with the city’s CBD-situated Te Kaha Stadium nearing completion, the Warriors are looking to finish with a 3-2 record at the venue – and improve to 5-5 overall in Christchurch, having gone 2-3 at Lancaster Park.
Number crunchers
Statistical standouts from a character-filled win:
- In difficult conditions, lightweight fullback Taine Tuaupiki racked up a team-high 172 metres from 23 runs to go with a five tackle-breaks and a jammy try assist.
- Erin Clark continues to prove one of the NRL’s buys of the season, churning through 160 metres from 20 runs and 29 tackles without a miss.
- In the absence of James Fisher-Harris, front-row duo Jackson Ford (21 runs for 151 metres, 46 tackles) and Mitch Barnett (18 runs for 146 metres, 37 tackles) produced workhorse 60-minute-plus displays against premier prop pairing Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan.
- Despite being subbed for the first time in 2025, Wayde Egan was a defensive dynamo yet again with 45 tackles; he’s ranked third in the NRL for tackles per game.