St George Illawarra Dragons slumped to their third straight loss after the New Zealand Warriors held on for a thrilling 15-14 victory at WIN Stadium on Saturday night. The visiting Warriors skipped to a 14-0 lead midway through the first half, but the Dragons refused to give up and leveled proceedings midway through the second half. The Warriors' half-back was the match winner, kicking a field goal with 11 minutes to play. Try as they did, the Dragons could not recover and slumped to their sixth season loss in front of 12,919 fans in Wollongong.
The Warriors were the first to score after Luke Metcalfe cruised over for a try in the seventh minute. He duly converted his try to make it 6-0. A dropped ball by the Dragons presented the visitors with the chance, who were then given two six-agains near the tryline. A few minutes later, the Warriors extended their lead to eight after Clint Gutherson was penalized for a strip, presenting Metcalf with an easy kick at goal.
Damien Cook then kicked the ball over the dead-ball line, instead passing to unmarked players to his left. The Warriors made the Dragons pay for the missed chance almost immediately. After racing downfield, Metcalfe put up a nice kick in the left corner, which was tapped to winger Taine Tuaupiki to score in the corner and extend the Kiwi side's lead to 12-0 after just 15 minutes of play.
Almost 10 minutes later, it got worse for the Dragons with Toby Couchman forced off after seemingly reinjuring the right shoulder he injured in the last-start loss to Wests Tigers. Couchman was ruled out for the rest of the game. Shortly after, the Warriors got another penalty, and Metcalf kicked the goal to give his side a 14-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Loko Pasifiki Tonga, making his debut for the Dragons, was introduced to the game. The Red V then had a glut of possession in the last 10 minutes and created chance after chance before finally scoring in the 38th minute after Gutherson was on the end of a nice backline play to score in the left corner, making it 14-4 at halftime.
The Dragons needed to be first to score in the second half to give themselves a chance of a comeback, and they did after Jack De Belin found an unmarked Dylan Egan to cross for a try in the 48th minute. Holmes kicked the conversion to narrow the gap to 14-10.
The home side found another gear and were soon level after half-back Lyhkan King-Togia put through a nice grubber close to the try line, which winger Corey Allan superbly picked up to cross for his first try since September 1, 2023.
St George Illawarra had all the running and almost scored again, but a Gutherson error close to the line was picked up by flying winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who raced downfield before Dragons forward Dylan Egan pulled off a try-saving tackle.
After a period of little tryline action, Warriors half-back Metcalf coolly slotted a field goal to give his team a 15-14 lead with 11 minutes left to play. A few minutes later, Val Holmes had an easy attempt to level proceedings, but his field-goal shot went wide, sealing the Dragons’ fate.
This match showcased the resilience of the Warriors, who managed to hold onto their lead despite the Dragons' valiant efforts. The Warriors' ability to capitalize on early opportunities proved decisive, while the Dragons will need to regroup as they face mounting pressure in the coming weeks.
