The ragtag, injury- and off-field drama-stricken Warriors did it again in Round 12, pulling off a 24-20 comeback win over the Dolphins with a team that bore more resemblance to a NSW Cup line-up than an NRL one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The return of Chanel Harris-Tavita, Marata Niukore and Freddy Lussick provided some relief, but the additional absence of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Taine Tuaupiki and Ali Leiataua (plus Rocco Berry\u2019s false start after being named to return) made for one of the most disruptive build-ups in Warriors history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the second week in a row, the Warriors overturned a halftime deficit to win. They won the second halves against the Panthers and Dolphins by a collective 30-14; despite their 5-1-6 overall record, the Warriors have outscored their opposition after the break in nine of their 12 matches in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three of the Warriors\u2019 starters were playing their first or second NRL games of the year, another two were making their first run-on appearance and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was playing just his second game at fullback in three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remarkably, there were more survivors from the second-string team that took on the Dolphins in Round 27 last season (10) than from the full-strength line-up that faced them in Round 14 (7). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The back-to-back courageous victories defied the Warriors\u2019 previous 5-21 record without Shaun Johnson since his 2011 debut, while the latter snapped a five-match losing streak when Fonua-Blake has been absent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Warriors\u2019 season was on the brink a fortnight ago with only three wins and a draw from their first 10 games, but their pair of instantly iconic wins has righted the ship. While they remained in 13th spot, Webby\u2019s charges are only three points adrift of the Top 8 and eyeing off a favourable draw during the Origin period with a host of top-line players making their way back from injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With half of their 2024 regular season fixtures in the books, let\u2019s look at how the season is stacking up historically so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Warriors are a competition point off a 50 percent win rate, having won five and drawn one of 12 matches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Encouragingly, the Warriors were only 6-6 at the halfway mark of their 2023 campaign before embarking on a top-four charge by winning 10 of their last 12 games. They were also 6-6 in 2014, when they ultimately missed the finals on for-and-against, and 2015, a season derailed by Shaun Johnson\u2019s broken ankle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only seasons in the past 20 years in which the Warriors won more than half of their first 12 games were 2011 (7-5), going on to land sixth and reach the grand final, and 2018 (8-4), when they came eighth but were just two points behind the minor premiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Warriors qualified for the playoffs with a negative win-loss ratio after 12 matches in 2001 (5-1-6), 2007 (4-8), 2008 (5-7) and 2010 (5-7). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Warriors posted the lowest winning score in a round that produced a 20-year high-scoring first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time since Round 24 in 2004, four games produced 60-plus totals as overs bettors had an absolute field day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lowest total of the weekend was 42 points as Penrith blanked Cronulla, while five teams scored 20 or more in a losing effort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only one Warriors match under Andrew Webster has produced more than 56 points \u2013 their 48-18 shellacking of St George Illawarra in Round 17 last season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Warriors\u2019 first bye of the season could not have come at a better time for a battered squad, on the back of two gruelling wins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last season the Warriors lost the week after their first bye (to Brisbane in Napier) but won after their remaining two (on the road against St George Illawarra and Gold Coast). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
From 2010-22, the Warriors were a handsome 12-7 coming off a bye \u2013 pretty good for a club that has a habit of getting tangled up in every imaginable hoodoo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Warriors\u2019 record against Round 14 opponent North Queensland is one of their better ones across the NRL over the past six seasons, winning seven of the clubs\u2019 10 encounters since the start of 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eight of those 10 matches were decided by 1-12 margins, including a one-point victory each. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Townsville has traditionally proved a tough place for the Warriors to win, however. Last season\u2019s gritty 26-12 result in Round 3 \u2013 after trailing 12-0 early \u2013 was just their third win from their last 16 visits to the tropics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Cowboys have won 19 of their last 27 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. The Warriors have won just two of their last nine on Australian soil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The heroic win over the Dolphins harboured some impressive individual statlines: <\/p>\n\n\n\n