Rugby league: New Zealand Warriors remain in pursuit of NRL playoffs by crushing Newcastle Knights

Warriors 36
Knights 6

Here come the Warriors, and the NRL will hold their breath, waiting for an amazing story to unfold in the most unusual season.

They crushed the Newcastle Knights 36-6 at Tamworth on a sunny afternoon that promises a bright long-term future for the Auckland club.

The immediate future doesn’t look too bad either.

It remains to be seen if the Warriors make the playoffs. Their hopes are still on the razor’s edge.

But they’re playing like a top-eight team, no doubt, and a very good top-eight team at that.

Title contenders? Well that’s a bit weird for now, but 2020 is getting a very crazy feel.

They slowly dissected the Knights and then finished them off with one killing blow after another. One commentator calculated that they had turned the Knights into “outrages.”

The great Cooper Cronk from NRL called it a “purely dominant performance.”

The Warriors, in a group of teams four points out of the top eight going into the round, dominated injury-struck Newcastle, who had entered the game in seventh place.

From their footwork to the moments of passing magic from center Peta Hiku, who created two attempts, it was a comprehensive performance in line with the tremendous strides they have made with interim coach Todd Payten.

League in general now hopes that Payten’s Warriors can reach the final. Having had to camp in Australia due to Covid-19 and enduring all manner of problems, from a sponsorship row to players quitting home, they have found their mojo.

His upcoming match roster, which once seemed so daunting, looks much more tempting given the drop in form some of his upcoming opponents suffer. The Warriors, with four wins in five games, will make the Eels, Sharks, Raiders and Sea Eagles very nervous.

When the points did not come for the Warriors, they kept the pressure on the Knights who collapsed. It was impressive: the execution, another excellent completion rate, the patience, the tactics, the individual skills.

It was pressure that created the gap that allowed captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to overtake Mitchell Pearce for the try that began to seal the fate of the Knights in the 52nd minute.
It was all the Warriors except for the score in the first half, their 8-6 lead was a poor reflection of how the spell had played out.

The Knights were his worst enemy in the first quarter, with many mistakes and particularly the improvised half-dead Kurt Mann.

It was a poor pass from Mann that put Newcastle under pressure in the opening minutes, leading to the first attempt of the game. A signature Hiku glide and move from the back of his hand readied Adam Pompey, who flew to the corner.

Unlike Newcastle, the Warriors made some mistakes and threatened, with players like Jazz Tevaga in particular causing a lot of trouble keeping the ball alive.

But the breakdown of the big points did not come. And after a Chanel Harris-Tavita penalty, Newcastle scored on their first decent attack when Gehamat Shibasaki beat George Jennings with a Pearce bomb.

Newcastle started to make some advances down the middle in the second quarter, though without creating much or putting dangerous Kalyn Ponga in good positions.

Each side had another clear scoring opportunity in the middle. Ponga’s brilliant covering defense prevented a second attempt from Pompey, and Mann was dragged below the line.

Warriors 36 (A. Pompey 2, R. Tuivasa-Sheck 2, G. Jennings, J. Tevaga attempts; C. Harris-Tavita 6 goals)
Knights 6 (Attempt by G. Shibasaki, goal by K. Ponga).
Halftime: 8 – 6