Adam Pompey was forced to switch to wing, after Roger Tuivasa-Sheck left the field. Photo: Brett Phibbs/Photosport
For the second successive week, NZ Warriors have overcome one of the NRL's perennial powerhouses, as they continue to establish themselves among 2025 premiership contenders.
Trailling for much of the contest, they outscored rivals Sydney Roosters 10-0 over the final 15 minutes in a physical, lowscoring affair at Go Media Stadium.
After a lacklustre season-opener at Las Vegas, the Warriors have bounced back to put themselves in the playoff mix, albeit just three weeks into the season.
Here's a handful of takeaways from the game…
Short term pain, long term gain
As they did against Manly Sea Eagles seven days earlier, the Auckland side trailled early, but played the long game, building pressure, even if it didn't pay immediate dividends.
One stat to emerge from the game had the Warriors tackled 30 times in the opposition 20 - a double-edged reflection of their struggle to convert overwhelming territory into points, but the ability to eventually wear down their opposition through pressure.
"I'd love to go down there and score every time," coach Andrew Webster said. "What we've done in the past, when we don't score, mentally we're beaten, but at the moment, when we don't score, we're ready for the next set and that's the most important thing.
"Every time we do that, we're just putting another nail in the coffin for them. When the moment comes late in the game, you ice the moment.
Chanel Harris-Tavita reclaims his kick to score the go-ahead try for Warriors. Photo: Brett Phibbs/Photosport
"We'd love to be more clinical, but I'll take a strong defensive effort with plenty of heart like that and then come over a strong team like the Roosters at the end of the game."
Key moment
Still trailling 6-4 in the 66th minute, the Warriors were desperately seeking a piece of individual brilliance to turn the tide.
They go it, when Chanel Harris-Tavita chipped a kick towards the Roosters line on the last tackle and then chased hard, climbing to reclaim the ball and plunge over for the lead.
Webster described it as a "oh no, oh yes" moment, where the option may not have appeared the best one at first sight, but ultimately proved fruitful.
"It was a pretty big play, it was pretty cool," he said. "We were banging on the glass with excitement afterwards."
Earlier in the set, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was left shaken by a crusher tackle that went unpunished. After taking several minutes to regain his feet, he popped up a couple of tackles later with the decisive run that carried his team over halfway and onto the attack.
RTS injury
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck had to leave the field, after making a trysaving tackle on opposite Dominic Young, barely tipping him over the sideline short of the corner flag.
Webster revealed RTS had tweaked a hamstring a couple of plays earlier, running up from marker on defence, He could not get back to prevent a 40/20 kick from Chad Townsend and staff were still trying to sub him out, when the Roosters shifted the ball to speedster Young.
When informed of Tuivasa-Sheck's heroic play afterwards, Sydney coach Trent Robinson observed: "That's the Rooster in him."
The two-code international began his NRL career at Sydney, chalking up 84 games, named Dally M Winger of the Year (2013) and Dally M Fullback of the Year (2015), and winning a premiership in 2013.
The Warriors have already lost right winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to a broken wrist and now Tuivasa-Sheck is likely to spend some time on the sideline. When he left the game, second-rower Kurt Capewell moved to centre and Adam Pompey out to the wing.
Webster may keep Pompey out wide, bringing centre Rocco Berry up from reserves, or replace like with like, promoting Ed Kosi or Morgan Harper to the wing spot. Either way, it's a big loss.
Leiataua double
Centre Ali Leiataua has quickly transitioned from earning his spot in the Warriors starting line-up to becoming impossible to leave out, with three tries in the first three outings of the season.
Now in his third season of first grade, injury has limited him to just 10 games, but his powerful display against the Roosters hints at him becoming a beast on the right of the attack.
His first try left two defenders grasping at thin air, as he slid across the line, while his second carried him past winger Daniel Tupou and fullback James Tedesco like they were turnstiles.
"Ali's so physical, he's a different body shape and the way he plays is aggressive," Webster said. "Near the line, you have to throw everything at him to stop him.
Ali Leiataua leaves Roosters defenders grasping for his second try. Photo: Brett Phibbs/Photosport
"Once he puts it all together, we're going to see a really good player. He's learning all the time.
"There were some efforts tonight, when the ball went the other side of the field on a linebreak and I saw him sprinting across. They're probably the parts I get most excited about… he had a couple of beauties tonight."
Next up
Next Sunday, the Warriors head across the Tasman to face Wests Tigers, presumably without assistant coach Richard Agar, who will be serving his three-game suspension for accosting a journalist at Las Vegas.
Wests have been wooden-spooners for the past three seasons, winning just 14 games over that time, but early indications suggest Kiwis legend Benji Marshall is instilling a culture of success in his first stint as a head coach.
The Tigers have brought Jarome Luai across from Penrith to partner Lachlan Galvin in an exciting halves pairing and have looked solid in their two outings so far - a narrow loss to Newcastle Knights in their opener and a win over Parramatta Eels last week.
On paper, this is a great chance for the Warriors to 3-1 to start their campaign, matching their 2023 effort, when Webster guided them to the preliminary final in his first year at the helm.
