The pre-match hype may have been around Sonny Bill Williams, but the Bulldogs danger man was silenced as the Warriors romped to a 36-16 win at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.
To rub salt in the wound, it was the other Sonny, Warriors rookie, Sonny Fai, who got the last laugh scoring his first NRL try right at the end.
Down by two at half-time, the Warriors finished strongly running in six tries to Bulldogs three.
Hot and cold winger Manu Vatuvei was sensational scoring two tries while captain Ruben Wiki answered critics with a powerhouse performance. He had been under fire the whole week after Matthew Ridge questioned whether he was a spent force in a newspaper column. But the stand in captain turned back the clock with a workhorse performance, barging his way over for a try for good measure.
Sonny Bill was muzzled from the get go, but he did manage a few of his trademark runs, one of them a sensational bumping run ending in an offload to fellow second rower and captain Andrew Ryan who put Luke Patten over for a brilliant try.
The Warriors play the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville this weekend in a tough match up. The Warriors will be looking to make it three straight wins while the struggling Cowboys will be seeking to get back in contention.
In other results, there is now a four way tie at the top of the table with the Broncos, Roosters, Titans and Sharks all on eight points from four wins. The Broncos however lead on points difference helped by their 34-22 win over the Knights. The Roosters continued their good form with a 28-12 win over the Panthers to push their premiership credentials to the fore, while the Titans edged the struggling Eels 28-20. The Sharks made tough work to keep their place in the top four with a character building 12-10 win over the winless Rabbitohs in the Monday night feature game. The Rabbitohs are struggling with injuries to key players.
Warriors 36
Tries: Patrick Ah Van, Manu Vatuvei (2), Ruben Wiki, Lance Hohaia, Sonny Fai, Goals: Michael Witt (6)
Bulldogs 16
Tries: Luke Patten, Ben Roberts, Heka Nanai, Goals: Hazem El Masri (2)
Halftime: Bulldogs 12-10
NRL Round 5 results
Eels 20-28 Titans
Storm 26-4 Sea Eagles
Dragons 16-20 Cowboys
Panthers 12-28 Roosters
Raiders 30-24 Tigers
Warriors 36-16 Bulldogs
Knights 22-34 Broncos
Rabbitohs 10-12 Sharks
NRL Points Ladder
1. Broncos 8
2. Roosters 8
3. Titans 8
4. Sharks 8
5. Storm 6
6. Raiders 6
7. Warriors 6
8. Sea Eagles 4
9. Knights 4
10. Tigers 4
11. Bulldogs 4
12. Panthers 4
13. Eels 4
14. Cowboys 4
15. Dragons 2
16. Rabbitohs 0
NRL schedule round 6
18 -21 April 2008
Broncos vs. Titans, Suncorp Stadium
Bulldogs vs. Dragons, Telstra Stadium
Cowboys vs. Warriors, Dairy Farmers Stadium
Eels vs. Sea Eagles, Parramatta Stadium
Raiders vs. Storm, Canberra Stadium
Roosters vs. Knights, Bluetongue Stadium
Sharks vs. Panthers, Toyota Stadium
Wests Tigers vs. Rabbitohs, Sydney Cricket Ground
