Roger Tuivasa-Sheck celebrated his 100th game for the Warriors with a starring role in a hard fought 20-14 Warriors win over the red-hot Dragons.
Both sides started the game running with power and playing at a top speed. Completion rates for both sides were very near perfect for the whole game.
In the 8th minute the Dragons put the ball through the hands on the left side - Adam Clune to Corey Norman then onto Matt Dufty, who held up a nice pass for Cody Ramsay who then scored in the corner. Zac Lomax's sideline conversion hit the upright and was waved away.
The Warriors hit back just five minutes later after some nice play by Wayde Egan at dummy half and 5 metres shy of the tryline. He shaped to pass right and then ran left before dishing a beautiful short ball to Tohu Harris who twisted in the goal line tackle and fell over the line for a good try next to the uprights. Kodi Nikorima converted.
Less than 2 minutes later, the Warriors extended their lead when Nikorima grubbered into the Dragon's ingoal, where the ball bounced awkwardly for Dufty, who almost grounded the ball, but it was Paul Turner following through who did force the ball for a try. Nikorima converted.
Ten minutes before halftime, the Dragons attacked down the right side, where Dufty threw a lovely cut-out pass to Mikaele Ravalawa who channelled his inner Eric Grothe to get the ball down despite having defenders smashing into him and trying to push him into touch. Lomax just missed the sideline conversion attempt. At halftime, it was 2 tries apiece, but the Warriors led 12-8.
The Bunker denied both sides a try in the opening 6 minutes of the second half. In the 43rd minute, a Nikorima grubber was grounded by Egan on the Dragons dead ball line and three minutes later Ramsay tapped a cross-field kick to Paul Vaughan who scored, only for the pass from Ramsay ruled to have gone forward.
Right on the hour mark, the Dragons scored again when Clune ran up to the line and grubbered between the posts before Matt Dufty came flying through and grounded the ball before it rolled dead to score. Lomax converted from almost in front to give the Dragons a 14-12 lead.
The Warriors hit back in the 67th minute when Tuivasa-Sheck received the ball out the back on the right side, shrugged off the tackle by Jack Bird and then burst through the gap in the Dragons edge defence to slam the ball down for a well-deserved try. Nikorima converted from out wide.
Nikorima added a penalty goal in the 70th minute. The Warriors closed out the game to win 20-14 in a very good game of football from both sides.