The Warriors retained a share of second place on the NRL ladder in an absolute thriller on Sunday, holding off the fast-finishing South Sydney Rabbitohs 36-30.
After powering to a 30-12 lead there was a familiar second-half fadeout – but yet again the Warriors were able to hold their nerve and close out the win, their sixth by a converted try or less from their last nine outings.
The 9-3 Warriors have also equalled their 2024 win tally already, while the club’s 2002 side is the only outfit to have a better record after 12 matches – the eventual minor premiers were 10-2 that year.
The Warriors finished on the wrong side of the error (9-7) and penalty (4-1) counts, but they won the run metres (1,738 to 1,529), post-contact metres (544 to 456) and average set distance (43.46 to 38.25) tallies.
High-scoring hi-jinx
The Warriors achieved victory while conceding 30-plus points for only the eighth time in their history on Sunday.
WARRIORS’ MOST POINTS CONCEDING IN A WIN
48-32 v Penrith, 2001
34-31 v Canberra, 2021
32-30 v Canberra, 1999
42-30 v Sydney Roosters, 2001
34-30 v Northern Eagles, 2001
31-30 v South Sydney, 2003 (golden point)
32-30 v Cronulla, 2023
36-30 v South Sydney, 2025
Run, Charnze, run
Indefatigable fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was a unanimous best on ground in the victory over the Rabbitohs, running for an incredible, career-best and 2025 season-high 339 metres from 28 carries – only 31 metres short of the NRL record.
Nicoll-Klokstad also scored a crucial first-half try and racked up an equal-game-high eight tackle-breaks.
Goalkicking woes
Luke Metcalf has produced some clutch goalkicks – including a 50-metre golden point penalty goal against the Broncos and several booming sideline efforts – but his overall success rate leaves a lot to be desired.
Landing four-from-seven against Souths, the dynamic halfback is now batting up 64.15 percent this season (34 goals from 53 attempts) – the worst of any goalkicker in the NRL who has had more than eight shots at goal.
The next-worst percentage of kickers who have had more than 10 attempts is Parramatta’s Sean Russell, who has 15 from 21 (71.43%).
Incidentally, Warriors top-liners Chanel Harris-Tavita (63 from 82 at 76.83%) and Adam Pompey (45 from 62 at 72.58%) have considerably better career strikerates than Metcalf (44 from 67 at 65.67%).
WARRIORS WORST GOALKICKING PERCENTAGES (minimum 25 attempts)
44.44% – PJ Marsh (12/27)
56.67% – Chad Townsend (17/30)
60.00% – Brent Webb (27/45)
62.75% – Lance Hohaia (64/102)
64.56% – John Simon (51/79)
64.86% – Kevin Locke (24/37)
65.63% – Denan Kemp (21/32)
66.67% – Tuimoala Lolohea (18/27)
66.67% – Luke Metcalf (44/66)
Oh captain…
Mitch Barnett’s ruptured ACL is a terrible blow for the veteran front-rower and the club’s aspirations this season.
Sidelined until 2026, the co-captain became only the 12th player to lead the Warriors in 20 first-grade games on the weekend.
MOST GAMES AS WARRIORS CAPTAIN 1995-2025
137 – Simon Mannering
104 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
90 – Steve Price
74 – Stacey Jones
54 – Tohu Harris
40 – Monty Betham
33 – Matthew Ridge
28 – John Simon
24 – Ryan Hoffman
23 – Kevin Campion
21 – Micheal Luck
20 – Mitch Barnett
Number crunchers
CNK led the way against Souths, but there were several other massive individual performances in the rollercoaster victory:
- On top of a second-half brace of tries, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck churned out 168 metres from 21 runs.
- James Fisher-Harris put in an enormous defensive shift in the front-row, making 53 tackles.
- Erin Clark keeps on producing the goods, this week making 48 tackles and 131 metres from 13 runs.
- Jackson Ford produced another big performance off the bench, racking up 15 runs for 151 metres and 37 tackles.
