Behind the scenes of the Warriors' victory party

By Michael Burgess

Shaun Johnson was singing the team song at the top of his voice while Dallin Watene-Zelezniak jumped in front of him, clapping his hands.

Coach Andrew Webster watched on with a contented grin as the noise grew inside the Warriors’ changing room. Jazz Tevaga, who had just completed a celebratory swig of Speight’s to mark his first appearance of the year, was revelling in the moment alongside Kurt Capewell, who was doing a passable impersonation of someone who was still learning the words to “We are the Warriors”.

On a chilly yet still night in Christchurch, this is what winning feels like, as the dejected Canberra players filed out of the adjacent changing room, some carrying boxes of beer. It’s only round three of the NRL season but Friday’s 18-10 win over the Raiders was a big moment, as a 0-3 record to start the season would have been hard to come back from.

“Sometimes you have to win ugly and we still made it hard for ourselves but I was rapt for the boys, they dug in at the end and found a way to get it done,” said coach Andrew Webster. “There will be a huge amount of relief for the boys and we can move on from here.”

Webster must have been feeling the pressure, after two close losses, to see his team trailing 10-6 with less than 20 minutes to play against a Raiders team who had momentum.

“They were definitely on top,” Webster said of the period where the visitors had gone close to extending their lead, denied by a bunker review. The Warriors were doing it tough but found something, helped by the wall of noise from the sellout 17,000 crowd.

“It was ridiculous,” said Luke Metcalf. “I thought the [pre-season] trial was awesome and this just topped that. I can’t wait to come back here already [next season].”

Tries to Metcalf and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in the space of four minutes at the start of the final quarter turned the contest before the Warriors maintained their advantage through a nervy finale.

“We probably made a few people’s hearts race again at the end but we just needed to get that first one over and done with,” said Metcalf.

It had been a testing week. Webster admitted the pain from the last-gasp defeat in Melbourne had lingered before they refocused on the positives. “It hurt, it hurt everyone,” said Webster.

Christchurch was the perfect place for a restart, with its ferocious atmosphere. Webster received a standing ovation as he walked to the coach’s box before kickoff, which he said was “surreal”. The crowd never really relented from there, with the noise created by the Warriors chant in the final 20 minutes equal to anything seen at Mt Smart last year.

“They were huge when we fell behind, we rode them home,” said captain Tohu Harris.

It was far from a complete performance but different players stood up when it mattered. Jazz Tevaga epitomised the bench impact, Watene-Zelezniak inspired with his charges and hits and the forwards never stopped working.

Tuivasa-Sheck played most of the second half at fullback, after Taine Tuaupiki’s exit due to a head knock, with his spectacular solo try making amends for a first-half miss on Matt Timoko.

“We have all seen that in his highlights video and to see him do that, it helped a lot with sealing the win,” Watene Zelezniak said.

Watene-Zelezniak, who was clutching a Rocco Berry banner he had grabbed from a fan, paid tribute to the work of his inside men on defence.

“It’s a team effort,” he said.

The winger was superb in his effort plays, along with creating Metcalf’s try, after cutting inside following a long pass from Johnson.

“There are a few times you get opportunities to play off the cuff and when you get a ball like that, that’s one of them,” said Watene-Zelezniak. “It’s one of my favourite things to do, come back through the ruck and try to find tired boys.”

Metcalf, who signed a contract extension earlier this week, spotted the “flying mullet” and hit the hole perfectly.

Metcalf was also impeccable off the tee, on a pressure night, with Johnson rested from goal-kicking duties due to a “niggle” that occurred on the eve of the Storm match.

Harris again set the standard, with 50 tackles, 130 running metres – mainly through the middle – and some silky touches with the ball, while Addin Fonua-Blake continued his strong start to 2024. Johnson was throughly tested by the Canberra runners on the edge but kicked and organised well, even if his teammates couldn’t always profit from the holes he created.

The Warriors can now look forward to a longer lead-in to their round-four match against Newcastle, with another big crowd expected on Easter Sunday.

Webster said Dylan Walker (ankle) and Wayde Egan (elbow) are week-to-week propositions, while Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (hamstring) is “close” and expected to return next week or the week after. That would be timely, with Tuaupiki scratched for 11 days.

“It was good to grind away and get a win like that,” concluded Watene-Zelezniak. “It’s going to be good for our confidence.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission