The Warriors have let a second-half lead slip to lose their opening match of the new NRL season.
Shaun Johnson prepares to make a kick in the Warriors round one match against the Dragons. Photo: Photosport
Having trailed 12-0 early against the Dragons in the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, the New Zealand club grabbed a two-point lead when they scored their third try not long into the second half.
But they faded in the final half hour, conceding three tries in the final 25 minutes to resign themselves to a 28-16 defeat.
Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa caused problems for the Warriors, starting his season with a hat-trick.
"When we got to 16-14, I thought that considering the amount of field possession the Dragons had, it was a good effort by the boys," Warriors coach Nathan Brown said.
"Then when we missed our chance, we lost our way a bit and we turned a lot of ball over.
"It was clear from the start that we want to play a positive brand of footy this year and we just didn't quite get it right at times."
There were, though, a few bright spots for the Warriors, with returning playmaker Shaun Johnson turning in a good performance in his first match back with the club.
"Shaun had some positives," Brown said. "Plenty of blokes had some positive points and some negative points
"We probably had some blokes who were below where they'd like to be, which is hard at this level.
"But Shaun had some positive stuff and it's always easier for your half when you're making the opposition work a bit harder as well."
The Warriors play the Gold Coast Titans in round two.
