Friday’s victory wasn’t a perfect performance by any means. The Warriors made more errors and conceded more penalties and set restarts than the Tigers. However, a second half that saw the visitors score three tries without conceding a point in reply did more than enough to earn the Warriors their 11th win of the season.
Even without State of Origin duo Mitch Barnett and Kurt Capewell, the Warriors had more than enough for the Tigers, as the usual suspects did the damage on the Tigers.
Co-captain James Fisher-Harris led on both sides of the ball, with 32 tackles to go with a try, a linebreak, and 145-running metres, while Jacob Laban managed 35 tackles, 160 running metres, two linebreaks and a whopping seven tacklebreaks.
Winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira continued his prolific season with another double, his fifth in nine games since debuting for the club, and took his career tally to 64 tries in just 63 games.
Alofiana Khan-Pereira celebrates his first try against the Wests Tigers in Campbelltown. Photo / Photosport
Webster, though, will be sweating on the status of prop Tanner Stowers-Smith – who left the field with a shoulder concern.
With their position on the ladder under threat from the Sydney Roosters and Newcastle Knights, victory means the Warriors will finish the weekend second only to the Penrith Panthers in the quest to guarantee home advantage throughout the NRL finals.
The Tigers, meanwhile, remain 11th, but could fall as low as 14th should results go against them, as they hunt a first finals place since 2011.
Two weeks on from a last-gasp loss to the Dolphins, the Warriors’ fast start effectively sealed the win in the opening 16 minutes.
Playing for the first time since a calf strain suffered in round 13, Fisher-Harris marked his return with the night’s first try – after running over former teammate and Tigers captain Jarome Luai to dot down.
And while the Tigers were fortunate to avoid going further behind when the pair of Te Maire Martin and Stowers-Smith separately knocked on close to the line, losing former Warrior Bunty Afoa to the sin bin for a late shot on Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad only made things harder for the home side.
The Warriors’ numerical advantage told in the next set, when Khan-Pereira was sent over in the left corner for his 10th try of the season, before the winger broke upfield less than three minutes later in a set that ended with Ali Leiataua waltzing through for the third try of the first half.
James Fisher-Harris scores against the Wests Tigers in Campbelltown. Photo / Photosport
Down 14-0 but back at their full complement, the Tigers hit back when an Adam Douehi grubbed was missed by the pair of Martin and Leiataua and seized by Samuela Fainu, as the Warriors were forced to repel multiple sets inside their own half to finish the first half without further damage.
As they did in the first half, the Warriors started the second spell with a double-strike to leave the Tigers on the back foot, after Heamasi Makasini missed the chance to bring the scores back to 14-12 with a knock-on with no defender in front of him.
Sustained pressure on the Tigers’ tryline saw Adam Pompey free Khan Pereira for his second, before a spilled high kick by fullback Jahream Bula landed perfectly for Wayde Egan to burst into a gap for the Warriors’ fifth of the night for a 20-point lead.
And as both sides entered the final 10 minutes, Sam Healey came off the bench to put a full stop on proceedings when he finished off a move started with a Martin linebreak, and set away by Laban.
The Warriors can continue their winning form next week, when they return to Mt Smart against the last-placed St George Illawarra Dragons.
Warriors 32 (Fisher-Harris, Khan-Pereira 2, Leiataua, Egan, Healey tries; Pompey, Harris-Tavita 3 conversions)
Wests Tigers 6 (Samuela Fainu try; Douehi conversion)
H/T: 14-6
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.