A five-star performance from Shaun Johnson led the Warriors to a huge victory in front of nearly 25,000 fans at Go Media Stadium.
Result
New Zealand Warriors 44
Tries: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 2 (19, 63), Rocco Berry (25), Addin Fonua-Blake (28), Luke Metcalf (31), Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (55), Josh Curran (59), Adam Pompey (77)
Goals: Shaun Johnson 5 (27, 30, 32, 57, 65), Luke Metcalf (78)
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 12
Tries: Nicho Hynes (9), Briton Nikora (73)
Goals: Nicho Hynes 2 (10, 74)
Report
Wearing their Indigenous jerseys to celebrate Matariki (Mฤori new year), a four try blitz in the middle of the first half laid the foundation for a crushing 44-12 win for the Warriors over the Sharks.
There was a late scare for the Warriors when Shaun Johnson went down with an ankle complaint, however he appeared to be alright before receiving an early mark shortly after.
The Sharks had dominated the opening minutes, scoring in the tenth minute via a Nicho Hynes show-and-go, before Johnson turned the game in the Warriors favour.
It began in the 20th minute with a shift to the right where Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossed for his 14th try in just 12 appearances for the year.
A perfect line run by Rocco Berry off a Johnson short ball put the Warriors in front in the 27th minute, with the halfback converting to make the score 10-6.
Johnson followed that up with a pinpoint 40/20 in the following set, before setting up Addin Fonua-Blake to crash over near the posts.
The Warriors went the distance again in the following set, with Wayde Egan breaking through from dummy half and sending Luke Metcalf away to score under the posts.
Metcalf thought he had a second four minutes later when he raced onto a Johnson grubber, however he was found to be offside.
A desperate effort by Marcelo Montoya on Sione Katoa down the other end allowed the Warriors to head to half time leading 22-6.
With the Sharks starting the second half strongly, Johnson proved himself as good at saving tries as setting them up in the 52nd minute when he matched Montoyaโs effort by forcing Ronaldo Mulitalo into touch.
That swung momentum back to the Warriors, with Berry breaking through to send Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad away to score under the posts in the 57th minute.
They again piled on the tries in a hurry, with Johnson setting up Josh Curran on the hour mark, before Watene-Zelezniak scored his second try with an acrobatic leap in the corner. Johnsonโs sideline conversion pushed the lead out to 38-6.
The Sharks pegged one back when Briton Nikora overpowered Nicoll-Klokstad to score under the posts. ย
A Will Kennedy knock on, followed by Hynes being sin binned for a professional foul, gave the Warriors one final chance to score. They did just that when Fonua-Blake drew defenders in before offloading to Ford who linked with Adam Pompey to score the try that put them ahead of the Sharks on points differential. Metcalf converted to complete the 44-12 thrashing.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Shaun Johnson (Warriors)
2 – Rocco Berry (Warriors)
1 – Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors)
