The Warriors came back from 18-6 down in the 20th minute and trailed for a long time, before Taine Tuaupiki\u2019s try took them ahead just after an hour.<\/p>\n
Errors and indispline troubled the Warriors in both halves, giving the Dolphins an invitation to unleash their weapons.<\/p>\n
The worst came with just six minutes to play, a cold drop from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak deep in his own territory, though the Warriors were able to defend the error.<\/p>\n
Jackson Ford of the Warriors against the Dolphins. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
The Warriors also played without luck, losing both Mitch Barnett and Ali Leiataua in the second half to concussions, the latter from a late hit by Thomas Flegler.<\/p>\n
But the difference in the end was the Warriors\u2019 hunger and desire, as they didn\u2019t concede a point in the final 60 minutes, despite tons of pressure.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the kind of performance that means so much and will pay dividends across the season.<\/p>\n
In front of the huge crowd, the Warriors made an electric start, with Alofiana Khan-Pereira flashing across after just three minutes, thanks to swift work on the left edge and a sharp tip on by Tuivasa-Sheck.<\/p>\n
On such a big occasion, it almost felt too good to be true and so it proved, as the Dolphins came storming back, after some inspiring defence. They matched the Warriors up front, then took advantage of some hesitancy in the defensive line, particularly on the left edge.<\/p>\n
Centre Herbie Farnworth had wrecked havoc early in the last encounter and so it proved again, as he scored off a clever grubber.<\/p>\n
There came the one-two punch, with Kiwi winger Jamayne Isaako crossing twice in the space of three minutes at the end of the first quarter.<\/p>\n
Both tries were almost identical, as swift passing stretched the Warriors, before Isaako used his pace on the outside. It was a shock \u2013 and an early examination for the new left edge \u2013 with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Khan-Pereira getting burnt by their opposite numbers.<\/p>\n
At 18-6 down this wasn\u2019t the script, but the Warriors found a way back. It came from a slick move from a scrum, Leiataua creating space for Watene-Zelezniak. There was more just three minutes later, following an Erin Clark bust up the middle, before Harris-Tavita set up Khan-Pereira, who came up with another acrobatic finish, after burning his winger.<\/p>\n
Alofi\u2019ana Khan-Pereira of the Warriors celebrates his try, NZ Warriors v Dolphins, round 8 rugby league match of the NRL Telstra Premiership at Hnry Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand on Saturday 25 April 2026. Photo credit: Marty Melville \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Leka Halasima went close just before the break, bobbling the ball at the crucial moment.<\/p>\n
The intensity lifted in the second half, as the collisions got bigger. Unfortunately one of those was a nasty head clash between Barnett and Chanel Harris-Tavita, which ended the co-captain\u2019s night.<\/p>\n
The Warriors then endured a difficult stanza, burning their captain\u2019s challenge with an ambitious call, then getting penalised for dragging a Dolphin over the sideline. When they got momentum, there were stumbles, with a forward pass from Tanah Boyd.<\/p>\n
But they never stopped pushing and went ahead in the 61st minute, after a clever blindside play saw Tuaupiki slip through. It was wonderful sleight of hand by Wayde Egan but there was collateral damage, as Flegler took<\/p>\n
Leiataua high without the ball. That saw Flegler sinbinned but the Warriors paid the bigger price, with Leiataua scratched for the night.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the Warriors couldn\u2019t take advantage of the shorthanded situation. They should have, after a brilliant Clark bust up the middle, but Boyd came up with a poorly timed pass to Harris-Tavita, who dropped it.<\/p>\n
That led to a tense final 15 minutes \u2013 at times hard to watch \u2013 as the Warriors never really looked in control but they hung on for a memorable win.<\/p>\n
Warriors 20 (Alofiana Khan-Pereira 2, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Taine Tuaupiki tries, Boyd 2 conversions)<\/p>\n
Dolphins 18 (Herbie Farnworth, Jamayne Isaako 2 tries, Isaako 3 conversions)<\/p>\n
HT: 14-18<\/p>\n
Michael Burgess<\/a> has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America\u2019s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Warriors came back from 18-6 down in the 20th minute and trailed for a long time, before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[22773,33224,20733,171762,78,111,139,69,12229,213,3006,52,6027],"class_list":{"0":"post-396872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-comeback","9":"tag-dolphins","10":"tag-gives","11":"tag-hardfought","12":"tag-in","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-result","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-warriors","19":"tag-wellington","20":"tag-win"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}