Exciting teen wing Motu Pasikala nabbed a double – his second a stunner – as the NZ Warriors stormed to their biggest win of the season in the New South Wales Cup on Saturday.
Facing the bottom-placed Western Suburbs at Sydney's Leichhardt Oval, the Warriors rattled on six converted tries to win 36-6 and move back to fifth on the ladder for now.
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The first half was a grind with just the one try to Pasikala in the 27th when the Warriors shifted wide to the right; from the touchline, fullback Taine Tuaupiki slotted the first of his six conversions.
The tempo changed completely in the second half as the Warriors found their attacking mojo scoring five tries and 30 points in 18 minutes.
From 40 metres out, Demitric Sifakula served up a sweet pass from first receiver for halfback Luke Hanson to start the spree with another try in the right-hand corner. Tuaupiki did not have an issue with a second sideline conversion.
Five minutes later it was 18-0 when interchange forward Harry Durbin steamed onto a Ben Farr bomb to score near the posts.
In the 60th minute Pasikala produced the try of the match. From 50 metres out he collected a dummy half pass, running into and through the heart of the home side's defence shaking off five defenders to nail his second try. Tuaupiki did the honours again to make it 24-0.
Second rower Leka Halasima extended the lead further when he collected a Hanson bomb and in the 64th minute and three minutes later interchange prop Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea powered over with Tuaupiki’s conversion making it 36-0.
Only then did the Magpies make an impression on the scoreboard with a late try.
The Warriors had a long list of superb individual performances, among them captain Kalani Going with 211 metres from 23 runs while NRL rookie topped the team's tackle count with 31.
The win was the Warriors’ eighth of the season lifting them to 19 points and fifth spot on the ladder.
A fourth consecutive win eluded the Warriors when they lost 30-16 to the fourth-placed Wests Tigers in their Round 15 Jersey Flegg Cup (Under-19) clash at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney on Saturday.
The Warriors had toiled impressively to grind out wins over Melbourne (28-24), the Sydney Roosters (20-16) and the Kaiviti Silktails (16-10) in their previous three encounters but a fourth victory proved to be just beyond them.
Fielding a forward pack and bench significantly modified from the combination used against the Silktails, the Warriors took time to settle in their third straight match on the road.
The Tigers went out to a 12-0 lead after 26 minutes before the Warriors hit back with a try to halfback Cassius Cowley three minutes later, Tallan Egan converting for a 12-6 scoreline at halftime.
The Warriors made a fast start after the break, Egan scoring his first Jersey Flegg try in the opening minutes of the second half as well as adding the conversion to lock it up 12-12.
The contest then settled into a grind but it was the Tigers who seized the advantage by scoring tries in the 54th and 57th minutes for a 24-12 lead and then adding another to stretch to 30-12 with six minutes to play.
In the final minute the Warriors engineered a try for wing Raphael Sio – his fifth in his last five matches – to finish the scoring.
After a tough run of away fixtures, the Warriors are back on home soil at last next Saturday when they face St George Illawarra at North Harbour Stadium.