Round 17
North Queensland Cowboys 18 d. New Zealand Warriors 12

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Cowboys hold out gallant Warriors fightback
Mon July 9, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

North Queensland defended desperately - and ultimately successfully - to deny the Vodafone Warriors the chance of taking Saturday night's NRL encounter into golden point extra time at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

With Patrick Ah Van in the sin bin, the Vodafone Warriors conceded tries either side of halftime to trail 0-18 after 46 minutes.

But they dominated the rest of the contest, creating tries for wingers Patrick Ah Van and Manu Vatuvei - both converted brilliantly by Michael Witt - which gave them every chance of a famous comeback victory.

With the score trimmed to 12-18 seven minutes from time, the Vodafone Warriors came at North Queensland with several assaults, threatening to score on three occasions. But each time the Cowboys found a way to deny them, holding on for a six-point win that moved them into third place.

Earlier two key decisions had a major effect on the flow of the match.

The first came in the 29th minute when Vodafone Warriors fullback Wade McKinnon went over for what seemed to be a brilliant try to everyone at the ground - even Cowboys supporters - and those watching coverage of the match. But referee Tony Archer referred the 'try' to video ref Steve Nash who somehow found a reason to rule it out, evidently on an obstruction call. The call stunned the Vodafone Warriors and their fans with television commentators also wondering why the try hadn't been awarded. It would have made the score 6-6 - the try was scored between the posts - but just 10 minutes later there was another setback for the visitors.

Ah Van became entangled with Cowboys winger Ty Williams as they both chased a kick into the Vodafone Warriors' in-goal area. The ball rolled dead but Archer called on Nash to check the incident out. Nash came back with a penalty ruling against Ah Van for interference off the ball and Archer sent him to the sin bin for 10 minutes. Just seconds later Carl Webb profited from the penalty, Johnathan Thurston converted and a scoreline that ought to have been 6-6 was now 12-0 in the Cowboys' favour at the break.

In the 46th minute it became 18-0 as the Vodafone Warriors conceded a try to former team-mate Sione Faumuina. He plucked a chip kick out of the air and dashed 50 metres for a heartbreaking try. With Ah Van off the field, the Vodafone Warriors had yielded 12 crucial points.

But once they were restored to 13 men, the Vodafone Warriors began to dictate the flow of the match.

They dominated territory, made far more ground than the Cowboys and also maintained a tight defence, missing just 10 tackles in the second half. In time they found success, shifting the ball slickly to the right for Ah Van to score his third try of the season. Witt maintained his 100 per cent record since taking up the goal kicking for the side, making it 14 from 14.

And in the 73rd minute it became a six-point ball game when Witt's deft chip kick in behind North Queensland's defence produced a memorable try for Vatuvei on the opposite wing. In his 50th match, he brought up 100 NRL points with his 25th try, maintaining a rate of a try every second match. Witt stretched his success rate to 15 from 15 under enormous pressure, slotting the sideline conversion superbly.

But try as they did, the Vodafone Warriors weren't quite able to take their fightback one last step to at least extra time.

Captain Steve Price produced another exceptional display, chewing up an amazing 223 metres from 28 runs on the back of an energy-sapping third State of Origin match. Fellow veteran Ruben Wiki was also in strong touch with 128 metres from his 15 runs and Micheal Luck, in front of his old home crowd, was relentless on defence. He finished with 42 tackles and not one miss again.

Match details:

At Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville:
Vodafone Warriors 12 (Patrick Ah Van, Manu Vatuvei tries; Michael Witt 2 conversions).
North Queensland Cowboys 18 (Ashley Graham, Carl Webb, Sione Faumuina tries; Johnathan Thurston 2 conversions; Ashley Graham conversion).
Halftime: 12-0 Cowboys.
Referee: Tony Archer.
Crowd: 19,684.

Report source: www.warriors.co.nz


Fien to make 150th NRL appearance
Tue July 3, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Vodafone Warriors hooker Nathan Fien reaches a major milestone with his 150th NRL appearance in Saturday night's clash against his old North Queensland club in Townsville.

And captain Steve Price and winger Manu Vatuvei are both set to play their 50th NRL games for the club in the same game.

Fien, who turns 28 next month, moved to Auckland for the start of the 2005 season after a 91-game career with the Cowboys.

After recently signing a new two-year contract through to 2009, he'll have his 59th outing for the Vodafone Warriors at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

Set to play his 23rd State of Origin game tomorrow night, Price (33) also made his debut for the club alongside Fien in the first round of the 2005 season. The 21-year-old Vatuvei, who has already played 11 tests for the Kiwis, began his top-level career against South Sydney in 2004.

But the most important statistic for the Vodafone Warriors this weekend will be trying to secure another win to extend their run to four after last weekend's 22-6 victory against Gold Coast.

"The players produced one of our best performances of the year last weekend," said head coach Ivan Cleary.

"But while we've done well in the past few weeks to put some wins together, we have to keep things going to stay in contact in this competition."

The Vodafone Warriors didn't return home this week after their clash against the Titans. They've been in camp on the Gold Coast, using the Burleigh Bears Rugby League Club at Pizzey Park as their training base before flying to Townsville on Friday.

Cleary today named a team barely changed from the one that triumphed at Gold Coast Stadium, the win being the Vodafone Warriors' third away success so far this season.

Price returns to the front row with Evarn Tuimavave dropping back a six-man bench; two players will be omitted closer to the match.

While Fien, Price and Vatuvei all reach personal milestones this week, another one is in store with Todd Byrne playing his 99th match on Saturday night.

The Vodafone Warriors haven't beaten the Cowboys in Townsville since 2002 but have won the last two encounters between the clubs, winning 34-14 in Auckland in April and 26-0 at Mt Smart Stadium late last season.

In their last four matches, including the narrow loss to Melbourne, the Vodafone Warriors have scored 90 points and conceded just 26.

And since being used by the side as a goal kicker, standoff Micheal Witt hasn't missed a goal, landing 13 consecutive attempts as well as scoring three tries for a total of 38 points. With his 10 points against the Titans he reached 50 for the season.

Micheal Luck, another player facing his old club on Saturday night, will be making his 40th consecutive appearance for the Vodafone Warriors.

While the Vodafone Warriors have Price involved in tomorrow night's Origin game, North Queensland have Johnathan Thurston, Matt Bowen and Carl Webb; Cowboys back rower Jacob Lillyman was originally selected but withdrew with injury.

VODAFONE WARRIORS v NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville
7.30pm, Saturday, July 7
Referee: Tony Archer

Vodafone Warriors

1 Wade Mckinnon
2 Patrick Ah Van
3 Todd Byrne
4 Simon Mannering
5 Manu Vatuvei
6 Michael Witt
7 Grant Rovelli
8 Ruben Wiki (vc)
9 Nathan Fien
10 Steve Price (c)
11 Louis Anderson
12 Logan Swann
13 Micheal Luck

Interchange (Two To Be Omitted):
14 George Gatis
15 Lance Hohaia
16 Wairangi Koopu
17 Epalahame Lauaki
18 Sam Rapira
19 Evarn Tuimavave

Coach: Ivan Cleary

News sent by: www.warriors.co.nz

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