Warriors v Panthers result: Winning run ends as Kiwi side fall short of Penrith in thriller

Five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita’s onslaught of perfectly weighted bombs highlighted the Warriors’ attacking efforts, along with halfback Te Maire Martin’s running game.

Taine Tuaupiki produced another captivating performance from fullback, scoring a try and contributing 10 of the Warriors’ 41 tackle breaks.

The two sides were incredibly even. Possession was split 50/50, and both completion rates hovered around 90%.

A first-half double for centre Casey McLean - backing up from an eye-catching Origin cameo off the bench for New South Wales - and a second-half brace for winger Paul Alamoti headlined a dogged Panthers effort.

Second rower Jacob Laban and winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira also scored for the Warriors, while centre Adam Pompey was perfect off the tee.

Lock Erin Clark produced another physical display, with 65 post-contact metres.

“It felt like a finals game,” Clark told Sky Sport.

“They’re the benchmark. We know we were that far off. We didn’t ice a few things.

“At the back end of that second half, our defence through the middle was a bit flat, but we tested ourselves against one of the best in the comp, and I reckon we’re there.

“Our type of footy can beat them.”

The Warriors were on the wrong end of a few tight calls - offsides, knock-ons - in the lead up to would-be tries, but Clark said it should not come down to that.

“They were the better team, and I thought we matched them for a bit. We’ll get them again later in the year.”

Neither Mitch Barnett nor Kurt Capewell backed up from State of Origin duties for the Warriors, while the Panthers also rested Nathan Cleary, Brian To’o and Isaah Yeo.

The Warriors started calmly, but a centre-field penalty gave the Panthers their first opportunity to draw blood five minutes in.

Panthers centre Casey McLean found a yawning gap on the left, crashing over for his first. Referee Gerard Sutton initially ruled obstruction, but the Bunker concluded that Warriors centre Ali Leiataua over-committed to decoy runner Isaiah Papali’i, and the try was awarded.

The New Zealand side’s first assault on Penrith’s line was underwhelming, with Martin dummying and taking contact on the sixth tackle.

Things changed in the 16th minute. After several threatening carries, a Harris-Tavita cross-field kick was picked out of the air by Laban, with both hands above his head. Pompey made a happy return to kicking duties off the tee and put the Warriors ahead 6-4.

Penrith conceded an offside penalty after the restart, leap-frogging the Warriors straight back into hot field position.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak pulled off a miracle offload after snatching another Harris-Tavita bomb out of the stratosphere, with Leiataua crashing over in the corner. Unfortunately, the match officials rightly ruled Leiataua was just offside from the kick.

With momentum firmly behind the visitors, Harris-Tavita continued to rain bombs down on the back right-hand corner.

The Warriors suddenly had acres of space, with Pompey sailing down the left edge and then crashing over the line two tackles later. The Warriors would again be denied - the Harris-Tavita offload was forward.

The Panthers continued to squirm. A Liam Henry high tackle allowed another Warriors set in the red zone. However, Tanner Stowers-Smith dropped a short pass from hooker Wayde Egan, and Penrith survived again.

The hosts only needed a sniff.

With just one set up the Warriors’ end, McLean took flight to reel in halfback Jack Cogger’s cross-kick and put the Panthers back in the lead.

Alamoti’s conversion put Penrith up 10-6 with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half, seemingly out of nowhere.

Dally M contender Jackson Ford contributed four of the Warriors’ 17 first-half tackle breaks.

Skipper James Fisher-Harris, Laban, Clark and Watene-Zelezniak were battering rams, peeling off post-contact metres. The perfectly weighed tirade of bombs off the boot of Harris-Tavita continued to look fruitful, but the chasers came up empty.

The Panthers would get one more visit to the Warriors 20 before halftime, and again, they made it count. With a hurt Laban out of the defensive line, Penrith ruthlessly stretched the Warriors to the right edge.

Alamoti produced an eye-catching dive in the corner and then converted his own try from the sideline.

The Panthers went into the sheds with a 16-6 lead, and the Warriors were left to rue those two disallowed tries. It was the largest halftime deficit for the club since their round five loss to Cronulla.

The second half started in the same vein of frustration for the Warriors. Panthers centre Luke Garner put a high shot on Tuaupiki, giving the Warriors a prime opportunity to strike.

The Warriors failed to convert on repeated set restarts, with Harris-Tavita wrapped up by three Panthers defenders just short of the line on the final tackle.

The game’s pace started to ramp up. A missed tackle from Warriors replacement Marata Niukore saw Panthers opposite Izack Tago break up the left edge, and this time it was Penrith five-eighth Blaze Talagi’s turn to be tackled just short of the line on the sixth.

Immediately from the kick receipt, Tuaupiki made a dazzling break, skinning three defenders and getting the Warriors’ set started at halfway. It was foreshadowing.

Minutes later, a show-and-go from Martin saw him scamper past Panthers prop Moses Leota, giving the pass for Tuaupiki to score the Warriors’ second try. Pompey’s conversion cut Penrith’s lead to 16-12.

Flushed with momentum and confidence, the Warriors started to press, and the Panthers finally caved.

Another spiralling bomb from Martin left Alamoti dumbfounded, the winger falling over without getting a hand to it. Khan-Pereira blitzed through, bounced on the loose ball and drew the Warriors level.

Tension boiled over, and a shoving match ensued. Fisher-Harris had words with former teammate Alamoti, prompting a telling off from referee Sutton.

Pompey calmly slotted the conversion, and the Warriors suddenly had an 18-16 lead with 20 minutes to play.

Leiataua made sure not to repeat his first-half misread, chop-tackling McLean on the final tackle of Penrith’s next attempt to re-take the lead. In reply, a dazzling break from Martin and an interchange of passes up the middle saw Laban go within metres of his second try, cut down by fullback Dylan Edwards.

The Panthers very nearly struck at the opposite end in the very next set, as the two sides ran one another ragged and demanded repeated heroic defensive efforts.

Penrith launched an onslaught on the Warriors’ line, and despite some standout spot tackles from Harris-Tavita and Khan-Pereira, the Panthers kept the ball alive to send Alamoti over for his second in the corner, making up for his shocker under the high ball minutes earlier.

The winger failed to convert from the sideline, leaving Penrith with a 20-18 lead with less than nine minutes to play.

The Warriors refused to go away. Harris-Tavita skied a bomb, and Edwards lost it backwards over the line, with Martin pouncing on it. However, Ford got a hand to it in the aerial contest, and it was rightly ruled a knock-on.

McLean produced another moment of magic on the left edge, freeing Thomas Jenkins. The winger somehow gave a forward pass to Edwards, who had what would have been the match-sealing try scrubbed.

The Warriors stretched the Panthers all the way to the other end of the field, and with another Penrith knock-on from the kick, the visitors looked odds-on to steal.

However, Tuaupiki lost the ball in contact while trying to give an offload to Watene-Zelezniak.

The Panthers closed out the contest, but the Warriors will take confidence from a brilliant all-round contest.

Warriors 18 (Laban, Tuaupiki, Khan-Pereira tries; Pompey 3 conversions)

Panthers 20 (McLean 2, Alamoti 2 tries; Alamoti 2 conversions)

Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.