Round 18
New Zealand Warriors 24 d. North Queensland Cowboys 14

2008 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Warriors hold on to defeat Cowoboys
Sun July 13, 2008
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Tackling machine Micheal Luck doesn't score too many tries but his 73rd-minute touchdown against his old North Queensland side proved the decisive act for the Vodafone Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium last night.

With his second try of the 2008 NRL season - and just his fourth in 66 games for the club - the 26-year-old loose forward helped the Vodafone Warriors to a run of two wins on end.

It iced a night when fans turned out to honour veteran prop Ruben Wiki's feat of becoming the first New Zealander and only the 10th player in all to make 300 first-grade appearances since the competition started in 1908.

The impact of Wiki's history-making achievement has seen the Vodafone Warriors enjoy their most profitable phase of the season so far.

When the 35-year-old played his 300th match on June 29, the Vodafone Warriors marked it by beating Wests Tigers 28-26.

For match 301, supporters had their first chance to celebrate Wiki's landmark at home and it, too, ended with another important win. Sandwiched in between was the second bye of the season meaning the Vodafone Warriors have netted six points in the last three weeks to advance to 18 points, only one point outside the top eight as it stood with three more matches to go in this 18th round.

This latest success again featured some quality tries, notably the first half efforts wide out on the left by centre Sonny Fai and winger Aidan Kirk plus a beautifully engineered Simon Mannering try in the second half.

But while there was much to admire there the standout feature of the performance was again the Vodafone Warriors' defence. An aspect that had been causing anxiety regularly earlier in the campaign has improved markedly over the past month.

Against Wests Tigers the Vodafone Warriors missed just 20 tackles and the count against the Cowboys was down to 19 (compared to the visitors' 38 misses).

That defence limited North Queensland to only one try in the first half and that didn't come about until the final seconds.

Johnathan Thurston's artistry inevitably came to the fore in the second half which enabled the Cowboys to lead at one stage but generally the Vodafone Warriors always had a measure of control, due largely to their defensive work.

Mannering's try off a sweet Grant Rovelli pass took them out to an 18-10 lead after 55 minutes. That was trimmed back to 18-14 by an Ashley Graham try but Luck's four-pointer seven minutes from time effectively sealed the deal.

Also on the scoresheet yet again was Jerome Ropati, introduced from the bench to run at standoff during the second half. The 23-year-old's 50th minute try was his fifth in 11 games this year and the 32nd of his career in 80 appearances.

Mannering (21) also has a healthy strike rate, his try lifting his total to 21 in 66 matches while Kirk has four in his first eight NRL games, those tries coming in each of the four home games he has played so far.

While Luck produced the critical try of the night - and one he cherished against his old club - it was his defensive work which was typically outstanding as he made 49 tackles to go past 600 for the season so far (638). Only Gold Coast's Nathan Friend is ahead of him on 662.

The result stopped a run of three straight losses to the Cowboys - all in Townsville - and leaves the Vodafone Warriors with a seven wins-nine losses record with eight rounds to go in the regular season.

Next Saturday night they're away to the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

There'll be no 300 to celebrate for Wiki then but he and his team-mates have made the most of that accomplishment in bthe last two outings.

There was plenty of Wiki flavour tonight from the special T shirts made for the occasion to the kapa haka group and the guard of honour that greeted the old stager as he ran onto the field accompanied by son Denzel and daughter Mackenzie (with his mother Tessa there in the East Stand after being flown in from Melbourne by the club).

And there was more at the end of the match as Wiki received an impressively designed memento of his feat - his 300th jersey framed with an array of poignant photos and career statistics. Appropriately it was presented by his long-time Kiwi and Vodafone Warriors team-mate Stacey Jones - the club's record holder for appearances (238) - and the Warriors' No 1 player, foundation captain Dean Bell.

Match details:
At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
Vodafone Warriors 24 (Sonny Fai, Aidan Kirk, Jerome Ropati, Simon Mannering, Micheal Luck tries; Lance Hohaia 2 conversions)
North Queensland Cowboys 14 (John Williams 2, Ashley Graham tries; Johnathan Thurston conversion)
Halftime: 8-4 Vodafone Warriors
Referee: Sean Hampstead
Crowd: 7722

Report Source: www.warriors.co.nz

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Price and Tate back for Warriors
Tue July 8, 2008
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Ruben Wiki's 300-game achievement will be a focal point when the Vodafone Warriors face North Queensland in their 18th-round NRL clash at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

And helping him mark the feat in front of home fans for the first time will be the 35-year-old Wiki's club team-mates Steve Price and Brent Tate, who return to the side after helping Queensland to its 2-1 State of Origin series success last week.

They were both absent for the clash against Wests Tigers when the former Kiwi captain became the first New Zealander and only the 10th player in the competition's history to appear in 300 first-grade games.

Price and Wiki will resume their partnership in the front row while Tate teams up with 20-year-old Sonny Fai in a new-look centres partnership. Fai played the entire 80 minutes there against the Tigers, scoring one try himself and making a long break to create Lance Hohaia's second half try.

With his retention and Tate's return, the seasoned Jerome Ropati has been named on a five-man bench. Also included on the bench are prop Sam Rapira - making way for Price's return ? Evarn Tuimavave, Ben Matulino and standoff Michael Witt.

Apart from Price and Tate slotting into their regular positions, the starting line-up is the same as that used against Wests Tigers with Grant Rovelli at halfback, Nathan Fien at standoff and Simon Mannering in the second row.

"We had an important win at Leichhardt Oval and it was great to see Ruben honoured the way he was for reaching 300 games," said Vodafone Warriors coach Ivan Cleary.

"It's a great achievement and our fans have the chance on Saturday night to celebrate the feat. We'd love to see as many people there as possible to honour Ruben."

Winger Manu Vatuvei hasn't yet fully recovered from a leg injury. He wasn't considered for this game. His fitness will be reassessed ahead of next week's away clash against the Bulldogs.

1 Lance Hohaia, 2 Malo Solomona, 3 Brent Tate, 4 Sonny Fai, 5 Aidan Kirk, 6 Nathan Fien, 7 Grant Rovelli, 8 Ruben Wiki, 9 Ian Henderson, 10 Steve Price [c], 11 Simon Mannering, 12 Logan Swann, 13 Micheal Luck. Subs: 14 Jerome Ropati, 15 Evarn Tuimavave, 16 Sam Rapira, 17 Ben Matulino, 18 Michael Witt (one to be omitted).

News Source: www.warriors.co.nz

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