The Warriors got out of jail 20-15 on the road against struggling Newcastle on Sunday afternoon, with teen sensation Leka Halasima producing an out-of-this-world try on the last play of the game to snatch the win.
After leading 6-0 early, the Warriors trailed 12-6 at halftime but clawed back to 12-all in the 50th minute and 14-all in the 67th. Knights halfback Jack Cogger’s 74th-minute field goal looked set to consign the Warriors to their first one-point loss since 2022, before Halasima’s heroics saved the day.
There was very little between the teams statistically, with the Warriors enjoying narrow advantages in possession (51%), run metres (1,614 to 1,512), post-contact metres (565 to 511), completion rate (82% to 80%), offloads (11 to 9) and penalties awarded (7 to 6).
Th Knights went down despite making six line-breaks to the Warriors’ three, while they also headed the tackle-break count (30 to 24). Errors finished nine apiece.
The result saw the Warriors snap a six-year drought in Newcastle and extended their unprecedented streak in NSW to six consecutive wins.
Highway to Halasima
Leka Halasima’s outrageous, instantly iconic match-winner put the rookie second-rower at the top of the Warriors’ 2025 tryscoring charts alongside injured halfback Luke Metcalf with eight, one ahead of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Chanel Harris-Tavita.
Halasima’s buzzer-beating effort was his fifth try in six games. As well as being a genuine chance of becoming the first Warriors forward to finish a season as the club’s leading tryscorer, he also has the all-time mark for the most tries in a season by a Warriors forward well within his sights.
MOST TRIES IN A SEASON BY A WARRIORS FORWARD (1995-2025)
10 – Logan Swann (2001)
10 – Ali Lautiiti (2002)
9 – Logan Swann (2003)
9 – Wairangi Koopu (2005)
9 – Simon Mannering (2014)
9 – Addin Fonua-Blake (2023)
8 – Elijah Taylor (2013)
8 – Addin Fonua-Blake (2024)
8 – Leka Halasima (2025)*
7 – Logan Swann (1999)
7 – Ali Lauitiiti (1999)
7 – Ali Lauitiiti (2000)
7 – Ian Henderson (2008)
*season still active
Better by half
Trailing 12-6 at the break at McDonald Jones Stadium, the Warriors overturned a halftime deficit for just the second time this season.
The other occasion was when they beat Sydney Roosters 14-6 in Round 3 at home after being behind 6-4 at the change of ends.
The Warriors are now 2-4 when trailing at halftime. They have gone on to win on each of the eight times they have led at the break, while they are 2-1 when the scores have been level.
All that glitters is Gold Coast
Gold Coast Titans have played one finals match in the past eight seasons, but that hasn’t stopped the likely 2025 wooden spooners from dominating the Warriors in recent years.
The Titans arrive in Auckland having won five of the teams’ last six encounters, including the last two at Mount Smart Stadium: a 27-26 final-round result in 2022, ironically with current Warriors No.7 Tanah Boyd kicking a golden point field goal; and a shock 27-24 Anzac Day result last year after the hosts led 12-0 early.
The Warriors were subjected to a record-shattering 66-6 loss when the clubs last met, in Round 16 at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast last season.
The overall count since 2007 stands at 20-14 in the Warriors’ favour.
One win from history
A victory this weekend against Gold Coast will give the Warriors a 13-5 record – matching the club’s 2002 combination for the most wins after 18 games.
That side went on to claim the minor premiership with a 17-7 record.
The 2023 Warriors were 11-7 after 18 games.
Number crunchers
A handful of statistical standouts from a streaky victory in Newcastle:
- Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was a ball-carrying behemoth again with 24 runs for a game-high 265 metres. He is ninth in the NRL for average metres per game (193.2).
- Erin Clark keeps on keeping on. The Dally M Lock of the Year contender led the Warriors forwards with 15 runs for 155 metres and 28 tackles.
- Interchange forwards Demetric Vaimauga (a try, 8 runs for 74 metres and 23 tackles in 35 minutes) and Tanner Stowers-Smith (9 runs for 89 metres and 21 tackles in 31 minutes) got through a pile of work.
- James Fisher-Harris led the way up front with 14 runs for 112 metres and 27 tackles (no misses).
- Wayde Egan made 88 metres on nine runs, produced a try assist and topped the tackle count again with 37 stops; he is third in the NRL for tackles per game (44.3).
