Taine Tuaupiki of the Warriors scores. Photo: Jeremy Ward / Photosport
First-half try doubles from Taine Tuaupiki, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Ali Leiataua have propelled NZ Warriors to a 36-10 pre-season win over Melbourne Storm at Hamilton - their final hitout before opening the NRL campaign in Las Vegas next month.
After a scrappy draw against Cronulla Sharks, the home side were far more polished in their second outing, despite a late shuffle in the backline that saw Taine Tuaupiki moved to the wing, Te Maire Martin to fullback and Chanel Harris-Tavita to five-eighth.
Even without some of their frontline players, the Warriors were too strong for their opponents, who fielded a second-string line-up in their first pre-season game.
They scored seven tries in the first 40 minutes to lead 36-0 at the break, but as coach Andrew Webster introduced his extended interchange to the contest, the Warriors lost their shape somewhat, allowing the Storm to grab two consolation tries.
"It was pretty good," said captain Wayde Egan. "Obviously, we've still got things we have to work on, but we put into place what we practiced all week and the coaches will be happy with that.
"It was good to get some confidence on attack with stuff we had been working on. A lot of things went to hand, which was nice, but we've still got plenty of things to work on before we head to Vegas."
The Auckland side now have two weeks to regroup, before the season-opener against Canberra Raiders on 2 March.
NZ Warriors 36 (Tuaupiki 2, Tuivasa-Sheck 2, Leiataua 2 & Harris-Tavita tries; Metcalf 4 conversions) Melbourne Storm 12 (Bradley & Talty tries; Morris conversion)
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Team lists
Warriors: 1 Taine Tuaupiki, 2 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 3 Ali Leiataua, 4 Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, 5 Ed Kosi, 6 Te Maire Martin, 7 Luke Metcalf, 8 Bunty Afoa, 9 Wayde Egan, 10 Jackson Ford, 11 Demetric Vaimauga, 12 Kurt Capewell, 13 Erin Clark
Interchange: 14 Dylan Walker, 15 Marata Niukore, 16, Leka Halasima, 17 Tom Ale, 18 Sam Healey, 19 Tanner Stowers-Smith, 20 Freddy Lussick, 22 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 23 Geronimo Doyle, 24 Luke Hanson, 25 Kalani Going, 26 Moala Graham-Taufa, 27 Sio Kali, 28 Motu Pasikala, 29 Jett Cleary
Storm: 1 Sualauvi Faalogo, 2 Kane Bradley, 3 Mitch Jennings, 4 Coby Williamson, 5 Setu Tu, 6 Tyran Wishart, 7 Keagan Russell-Smith, 8 Stefano Utoikamanu, 9 Bronson Garlick, 10 Lazarus Vaalepu, 11 Ativalu Lisati, 12 Joe Chan, 13 Angus Hinchey
Interchange: 14 Stanley Huen, 15 Cooper Page-Wilson, 16 Nathaniel Roche, 17 Ben Talty, 18 Morgan Harper, 19 Jack Goulding, 20 Hugo Peel, 21 Josh Billing, 22, Suli Pole, 23 Vaka Sikahele, 24 Preston Conn, 25 Liam Williams, 26 Eli Morris, 27 Ioane Lui, 28 Tuipulotu Katoa
