Luke Metcalf scores against the Dragons, at WIN Stadium, in Wollongong, on Saturday night. Photo: David Neilson/Photosport
Halfback Luke Metcalf potted a 30-metre field goal to give his NZ Warriors another heartstopping 15-14 win over St George Illawarra Dragons at Wollongong and rise to second on the NRL competition ladder.
Ahead 14-0 with halftime looming, the visitors seemed well in control of the contest, but conceded a try to Dragons captain Clint Gutherson that seemed to switch momentum into the break.
Turning into the wind, the Warriors were immediately on the back foot, when forward Jackson Ford suffered a head clash in a tackle and was concussed out of the game.
Tries to second-rower Dylan Egan and winger Corey Allan within three minutes dragged the home side level with half an hour remaining, and the Auckland side were required to turn up their defence, while searching for winning points against the run of play.
They also lost front-rower Bunty Afoa to a knee injury and had second-rower Marata Niukore pulled to the sidelines for a head check, which he passed, as they desperately tried to survive.
Extra time seemed likely, but Metcalf took the opportunity from a Warriors attack, slotting the gamewinning kick with 10 minutes remaining.
The Warriors then managed to control territory enough to deprive the Dragons. Centre Valentine Holmes had an attempt from 40 metres that drifted wide, but was run off his mark in the dying moments, and the visitors played down the clock.
The Warriors have now emerged on top of four close wins this season - they needed a late penalty to beat Wests Tigers, an Golden Point penalty against Brisbane Broncos and a determined defensive effort to hold off fast-finishing North Queensland Cowboys last week.
"I'd like an easy game," captain Mitch Barnett declared. "We had some troops go down, we weren't playing great, but we showed some resilience, which you can't fault at the moment.
"We got the job done, but we made it hard on ourselves with some errors."
With Canterbury Bulldogs winning their table-of-table clash against Canberra Raiders earlier, the Warriors have now risen to second on the table and can't be headed this weekend.
They take on the Dolphins at Brisbane next Saturday.
See what happened, with RNZ's blog:
Team lists
Dragons: 1. Clinton Gutherson, 2. Tyrell Sloan, 3. Moses Suli, 4. Valentine Holmes, 5. Corey Allan, 6. Kyle Flanagan, 7. Lyhkan King-Togia, 8. Toby Couchman, 9. Damien Cook, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Dylan Egan, 12. Jaydn Su'A, 13. Hamish Stewart
Bench: 14. Jacob Liddle, 15. Jack De Belin, 16. Luciano Leilua, 17. Loko Pasifiki Tonga
Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3. Adam Pompey, 4. Kurt Capewell, 5. Taine Tuaupiki, 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7. Luke Metcalf, 8. Jackson Ford, 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Mitchell Barnett, 11. Leka Halasima, 12. Marata Niukore, 13. Erin Clark, 14. Samuel Healey, 15. Jacob Laban, 16. Demitric Vaimauga, 17. Bunty Afoa
