The Warriors have suffered a potentially devastating blow with star forward Jackson Ford forced off with a pec injury midway through the first half of their clash with the Cowboys.
Ford has had the best year of his career and was only three points behind Nathan Cleary on the Dally M leaderboard when voting went behind closed doors after round 12.
But he could be set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after he reeled out of a tackle on Tom Chester and immediately came from the field in his side’s 38-20 win.
The front-rower was in contention for a Blues debut but was overlooked for the opening two games of the State of Origin series, with scans set to determine how long he’ll be kept on the sidelines for a side with premiership ambitions.
Teammate Mitch Barnett carried the load with James Fisher-Harris also missing, with the Blues prop backing up from Origin with a whopping 23 runs for 179 metres.
TAKE A CHARNZE ON ME
The Warriors were flat last week against Cronulla, but they found their mojo on Sunday with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad scoring four tries in his first NRL game on the wing since 2017.
The veteran was unstoppable with a first-half hat-trick and then grabbed his fourth seven minutes after the break to put the hosts ahead by 10.
It was a crucial win for the Warriors who have now pegged Penrith’s lead at the top of the ladder back to just four points following their shock loss to the Titans.
Wayde Egan was sensational in the opening exchanges with a number of scything runs through the middle, while Te Maire Martin produced a stunning tackle to somehow deny Jaxon Purdue what should have been a certain try.
A NO NO FOR LOLO
There were no celebrations for Todd Payten after Saturday’s confirmation that he’d signed a new deal to remain Cowboys coach, with his side slumping to a third loss on the trot.
They were defensively fragile on the edges as the Warriors wingers combined for five tries, and there could be more concerns after veteran Jason Taumalolo was sent to the sin bin for a lifting tackle in the second half.
He was the only North Queensland forward doing much damage before he was sent from the field, with fullback Scott Drinkwater providing three highlight plays on an otherwise disappointing day across the ditch.
The flashy fullback came up with a spectacular play to intercept an Egan pass to prevent a try, while he also set up a couple of tries with lovely long passes and scored one of his own in the first half.
20/20 VISION
Christchurch has nailed its audition to become the 20th team in the NRL with a sold-out crowd treated to a cracking game of footy.
One NZ Stadium can hold up to 30,000 people and is covered by a roof which is ideal for this time of year.
Fans in New Zealand have fallen in love with the Warriors, and rugby league is growing at such a rapid rate over there that it only makes sense to bring in a second team.
Originally published as Injury blow: Jackson Ford suffers pec injury for the Warriors in huge Origin blow