Round 24
New Zealand Warriors 36 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 14

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

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

Warriors keep top four hopes alive
Mon August 27, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Wairangi Koopu marked his 150th first-grade appearance with a try-scoring double as the Vodafone Warriors beat Manly to surge into the NRL finals for the first time in four years.

Koopu, playing in the centres after a shoulder injury forced Jerome Ropati early in the match, struck once in each half in a display that had him voted the players' player of the day.

It was a win that not only sealed the first taste of finals football since 2003 - and the fourth in the club's history - but it also kept alive the hope of a home semi-final.

In securing only their second victory against Manly at Mt Smart Stadium, the Vodafone Warriors moved into fourth spot on 27 points. Parramatta will regain that position if it beats St George Illawarra on Monday night.

The win in front of 25,070 fans was the fifth on end at home this season after earlier accounting for Penrith 54-14, St George Illawarra 44-16, Newcastle 52-10 and Gold Coast 30-6.

It was also the fifth successive time they had scored 30 or more points at home, totalling 216 points while conceding 60. In fact of their eight wins from 12 starts at home this year, seven ended with the them scoring 30 or more points.

While Sunday's victory margin ended up being 22 points, the home side faced some heat from Manly in the first quarter as debutant winger Michael Bani and Chris Hicks scored tries to give their side a 10-2 lead.

Manly was without first-choice players Brett Stewart, Steve Bell, Brent Kite, Glenn Stewart and Luke Williamson and its resources were further depleted when prop Glenn Hall was sidelined in the opening moments after a heavy collision.

Despite that, the Sea Eagles were applying plenty of pressure with captain Matt Orford orchestrating much of the play.

But a brilliant off load from winger Manu Vatuvei proved to be something of a catalyst for the Vodafone Warriors. As he was about to be taken into touch in a gang tackle, Vatuvei somehow slipped the ball out giving interchange forward Epalahame Lauaki the only invitation he needed to score his fifth try of the season.

And in the 37th minute the Vodafone Warriors went 12-10 ahead after a slick move from a scrum gave Koopu room to take off from near halfway to score a wonderful try.

Michael Witt had a rare miss with the conversion but the home side still had an important if slim edge.

That might have disappeared in the 50th minute when fullback Michael Roberston went across but the would-be try was scrubbed out by video referee Chris Ward on an obstruction call.

The Vodafone Warriors instantly profited from the decision.

Steve Menzies lost possession in a multiple tackle and in the next set Witt challenged and pierced Manly's defensive line before off loading to hooker George Gatis for another smart try.

With Witt's conversion and a penalty soon after the Vodafone Warriors had a useful 20-10 lead which became 24-10 in the 61st minute when Koopu ran a great line onto a Wade McKinnon pass for his second try of the day. Witt, who had missed only two shots from his previous 51 attempts before this match, doubled his total of unsuccessful kicks for the year by pushing the conversion attempt wide to the left.

But in eight minutes the Vodafone Warriors had put on 12 points to lead 24-10.

It always looked like the game would be safe then although Manly did come back into it at 14-24 with a Jamie Lyon try in the 65th minutes.

Buoyed by the big crowd, the Vodafone Warriors finished off the job this time with what coach Ivan Cleary happily called an ugly win.

Centre Simon Mannering, who had been troubled during the week by a viral complaint, was put across by Nathan Fien for his seventh try of the season and Vatuvei snared his 10th when he intercepted five minutes from fulltime.

With Witt slotting both conversions, the Vodafone Warriors had one of the club's most important victories.

Despite missing two attempts, Witt still collected another 12 points with six from eight, lifting his season's points tally to 135 including 55 goals from 59 attempts.

While confirming a top eight berth, the win also improved an outstanding record in the second half of the season.

After winning only four of their first 12 matches, the Vodafone Warriors have won eight and drawn one of their last 11 games to collect 17 of a possible 22 points.

The victory was also achieved on a day when the Vodafone Warriors marked the deeds of the famous 1977 Auckland side.

Nostalgia was in plentiful supply as that Auckland team was honoured in various ways. It beat Australia, Great Britain and France in the space of 20 days in June that year - all at the grand old Carlaw Park under lights - and 12 of the 19 players involved were guests of honour at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday. Captain Dennis Williams and 11 of his team-mates were feted at a lunch and then introduced to the crowd before the feature match.

But the stand-out in the celebrations was seeing the Vodafone Warriors running onto the field in the Auckland colours. They went on to complete a trifecta of wins in specially themed jerseys.

In 2005, the Vodafone Warriors wore a replica of the club's original 1995 kit for their 10th anniversary clash against Brisbane and won 30-18. Last year they wore another one-off design for Awen Guttenbeil's testimonial match and beat Cronulla 12-10. And this time Manly was dismissed on a poignant day that sees the club at last planning for post-season competition once again.

While the major goal was reached, another achievement came the way of Price. He carried the ball 182 metres, making him the first player this season to break through the 4000 metre barrier (it's a mark that has been reached only a few times since such statistics have been recorded).

Micheal Luck added another 42 tackles to his season's tally.

Match details:

At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland:
Vodafone Warriors 36 (Wairangi Koopu 2, Epalahame Lauaki, George Gatis, Simon Mannering, Manu Vatuvei tries; Michael Witt 4 conversions, 2 penalties).
Manly Sea Eagles 14 (Michael Bani, Chris Hicks, Jamie Lyon tries; Jamie Lyon conversion).
Halftime: 12-10 Vodafone Warriors.
Referee: Paul Simpkins.
Crowd: 25,070.

Report source: www.warriors.co.nz

Also, please fill out the 2007 rleague.com Fan Say survey and have your say on Rugby League in 2007! Click HERE for more information.


Warriors v Sea Eagles - Sold Out Officially
Fri August 24, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

The Vodafone Warriors have sold out a regular season game at Mt Smart Stadium for the first time since the club's debut year in 1995.

Chief executive Wayne Scurrah today announced 26,672 tickets had gone as Vodafone Warriors ambassador Peter Leitch hammered in a 'sold out' sign outside the ground.

"We're absolutely delighted with the way our loyal fans and the general sporting public have got in behind us throughout the season and especially for this game," he said.

"Tickets for the Manly match were selling at an amazing rate last week and now we've seen the last few hundred go on the northern embankment.

"Apart from 1995, this is the first regular season match that has been sold out before the game has been played."

The club's record attendance for a home game is listed as 32,174 for the round six clash against Illawarra in 1995, when the then-named Ericsson Stadium had a bigger capacity.

The ground was also sold out for the Vodafone Warriors' historic first home play-off against Canberra in 2002.

The huge crowd for the Manly game follows an attendance of 20,609 at the club's previous home match against Gold Coast.

Scurrah urged fans to arrive early on Sunday and recommended they use public transport.

"With so many people coming, we think it's important that the public try to avoid some of the problems there could be," he said.

"We'd encourage as many fans as possible to arrive at the ground in plenty of time and we also think it would be a good idea to use public transport to minimise traffic congestion and parking problems. Sky City is again providing a free bus service for fans so they can park in town, travel to the ground and return to the city later. More public transport is also being provided."

Scurrah said fans planning to use public transport to and from the game could obtain more information from MAXX at www.maxx.co.nz or by calling (09) 366 6400.

No extra parking will be available at the stadium. The only options will be on roads around the stadium and through private businesses opening up their premises. These can be found off Maurice Road, O'Rorke Road, Station Road, Mt Smart Road and Church Street as well as Beasley Avenue.

Gates will open at 11.00am on Sunday. With the Vodafone Auckland Lions having a bye in the New South Wales Premier League, the curtain raiser will be a semi-final between Richmond and Glenora in the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial championship. That match kicks off at 11.40 am.

Featuring in the Sky City Performance at 1.20pm will be the popular Jamoa Jam with the main game between the Vodafone Warriors and Manly due to kick off at 2.00pm.

Another special feature of the day will be a tribute to the 1977 Auckland team, which beat Australia (19-15), Great Britain (14-10) and France (17-0) in the space of 20 days.

The Vodafone Warriors are turning back the clock to wear a special 1977 replica Auckland strip to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the achievement and 11 of the 19 players from the Auckland side will be guests of honour on Sunday.

Along with coach Bill Sorensen's widow Olga and other officials involved at the time, the 1977 players will be hosted by the Auckland Rugby League at a lunch in the Club Lounge and at about 1.45pm they will be brought out onto the field and introduced to the crowd.

The players in attendance will be captain and Kiwi legend Dennis Williams - a regular at Vodafone Warriors matches - plus new Kiwi coach Gary Kemble, Dane O'Hara, Lyndsay Proctor, John Smith, John Wilson, Glenn Taylor, Mark Lowe, Dave Lepper, Alan McCarthy and Luther Toloa. The eight players not expected to be involved are Mark Graham, Olsen Filipaina, Kurt Sorensen, Warren Winter, Dave Sorensen, Chris Jordan and Stan Napa (all living in Australia) and Fred Ah Kuoi, who lives in the United States.

News sent by: www.warriors.co.nz

Also, please fill out the 2007 rleague.com Fan Say survey and have your say on Rugby League in 2007! Click HERE for more information.

Thu August 23, 2007
• Manly lose five players for Warriors clash
  
Tue August 21, 2007
• Cleary names enlarged squad to prepare for Manly clash
  
Fri August 17, 2007
• Warriors fans urged to secure remaining tickets for Manly clash
  

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