The One New Zealand Warriors have blasted into the New South Wales Cup grand final by eliminating Parramatta 42-14 with a second half masterclass in tonight’s preliminary final at Jubilee Stadium in Sydney.
Rebounding from their upset loss to St George Illawarra last week, the Warriors made the most of their second chance producing a run of five tries and 26 unanswered points to seal a repeat clash with the Dragons in next Sunday’s premiership decider at CommBank Stadium.
With the week off they were out of sorts against St George Illawarra last week and were made to battle for a period of tonight’s encounter.
After leading 16-0 following an impressive opening 20 minutes through tries to Taine Tuaupiki and two to Moala Graham Taufa, they conceded two tries before halftime and then another straight after the break to hold a slender 16-14 advantage.
Then the momentum was regained to change the course of the contest.
Winger Edward Kosi’s 15th try of the season in the 49th minute proved to be the game changer.
Within a nine-minute window winger Setu Tu, centre Ali Leiataua – back from injury – and Tu again crossed to extend the Warriors’ lead to 36-14 and it was game over.
Five minutes from time standoff Luke Hanson iced it as he took an inside pass from fullback Taine Tuaupiki, dancing his way past defenders to dot down.
The Warriors went into the match showing two key late changes with Tanah Boyd starting at halfback and Leiataua making his long-awaited return.
Their overall performance was a complete contrast from their worst effort of the season in the loss to the Dragons.
They were overshadowed in all areas then but dominated the key measures against Parramatta.
They included an 85 per cent completion rate to Parramatta’s 73 per cent, 1613 metres gained to 1370, 559 post-contact metres to 469, 12 line breaks to three and 61 tackle breaks to 33.
Tuaupiki was named the man of the match with a try, a game-high 198 metres from 17 runs, three line breaks, three line break assists three try assists and nine tackle breaks.
Leiataua marked his return with his try, 111 metres from 12 runs, a line break, a line break assist, a try assist and seven tackle breaks.
The victory puts the Warriors into the third New South Wales Cup grand final in the club’s history after being beaten in the decider in 1996 and in 2011 (when they played as the Auckland Vulcans).