But for a team without co-captain Mitch Barnett and influential second rower Kurt Capewell, both on State of Origin duty, Saturday’s win will be gratefully accepted.
While the Warriors will gratefully accept two competition points, that sees them only denied top of the table status by the Penrith Panthers’ superior points differential, Webster will count the cost of victory.
Making his return after a shoulder injury, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck limped out of the first half with a knee injury that will need scans to assess the full damage.
Meanwhile, young forward Eddie Ieremia-Toeava failed a concussion test, while Te Maire Martin was placed on report for a late shot on opposite halfback Kyle Flanagan.
Te Maire Martin scores against the St George Illawarra Dragons. Photo / Photosport
That, though, was the only blemish on Martin’s night. Playing in place of the injured Tanah Boyd, Martin put in another impressive display at halfback – scoring two tries, making 26 tackles, and kicking for more than 200 metres.
Not to be outdone, the duo of Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Alofiana Khan-Pereira also added two tries apiece, as the Warriors overtook Penrith as the competition’s leading point-scorers after 12 rounds.
Taine Tuaupiki gave another example of his class at fullback with a try assist and over 200 running metres, while Jacob Laban took his chance of a rare start in Capewell’s place, with 35 tackles, to go with four tackle-busts, three turnovers and 147 run metres to boot.
On defence, Jackson Ford gave New South Wales selectors a reminder of his class after missing selection earlier this week, making 49 tackles, backed up by captain James Fisher-Harris’ 46, and the ever-reliable Erin Clark, who put in 45.
And with an away trip to Penrith next week, themselves coming off a bye, this win could just serve as an ideal tune-up for Webster’s men.
As the Warriors were forced to defend back-to-back sets on their own tryline, an offload over the top from Hamish Stewart sent winger Setu Tu over in the corner against the side he left at the start of the year.
But having struggled to string sets together early, the Warriors came to life in the wet, helped by the Dragons’ ill-discipline.
After going scoreless against the Broncos last week, Khan-Pereira made amends in Kograh. An error from Valentine Holmes gave the Warriors possession inside the opposition half, Khan-Pereira beat one defender, and outpaced five more to ground the ball, and kickstart a run that left the Dragons with no answers.
Five minutes later, 6-0 down became 10-6 up, as Martin fooled the Dragons’ goal-line defence with a dummy to score on the left edge.
As halftime drew closer, and the Warriors’ depth was tested by the injuries, Watene-Zelezniak added the third, after Taine Tuaupiki spun out of a tackle and freed his winger for a trademark finish in the corner.
Jackson Ford against the St George Illawarra Dragons. Photo / Photosport
Up 14-6 at the break, Martin slipped through for his second after the resumption, evading the tackle of a diving Clint Gutherson before going over on the Warriors’ left, to mark the first time since 2017 he’d scored more than one try in a game.
A mounting error count left the Dragons struggling to get back into the contest, even as Watene-Zelezniak was denied his second try by grounding the ball short of the line.
But while the Warriors were kept out on one flank, they wouldn’t be denied on the other, as a Chanel Harris-Tavita cutout pass put Khan Pereira away for his second – his fourth double in his last five games – any hopes of a Dragons fightback were ended, as fans began to head for the exit.
A breakaway try from Dragons winger Christian Tuipulotu with just over 15 minutes remaining proved too little, too late, as St George Illawarra’s wait for a victory creeps closer to the one year mark, made all the worse as Watene-Zelezniak’s second put a full stop on the night.
Warriors 30 (Khan-Pereira 2, Martin 2, Watene-Zelezniak 2 tries, Harris-Tavita 3 conversions)
Dragons 12 (Tu, Tuipulotu tries; Holmes 2 conversions)
HT: 14-6
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.