Warriors lose to Roosters & Johnson exits under injury cloud

By Michael Burgess

It’s Mother’s Day, so let’s start with the good news.

The Warriors aren’t going to face too many teams with the attacking brilliance of the Sydney Roosters over the rest of this NRL season, with the Bondi outfit electric for much of this contest.

It felt like they were playing touch football at times - especially in the first-quarter carnage - as they destroyed the Warriors 38-18.

The bad news is this was another serious hammer blow for the Auckland team, the kind that can take a long time to recover from.

It will lead to more questions about the team’s destiny this season and provoke another week of soul-searching ahead of the Magic Round clash with Penrith next Sunday.

Apart from the psychological pain, there could be physical damage too, with Shaun Johnson withdrawn for the final 15 minutes after struggling with a chest injury sustained in the first half.

The halfback is surely in doubt for the next few weeks, while Wayde Egan and Freddy Lussick both suffered nasty head knocks.

There is no short-term solution to this, even if the Warriors will back themselves to find an answer eventually.

In a season where there have already been some definite low points, this was probably the worst yet.

The game was over as a contest after 12 minutes, with the Roosters scoring an incredible four tries and 22 points in that period.

It was hard to watch, as the Warriors were shell-shocked by the pace, skill and deception of the Sydney team and couldn’t find an answer.

To their credit, they found some starch after that, gaining parity in possession and territory to show some spirit.

But the result means the Warriors extend their winless run to five games, with four consecutive defeats.

There is nothing easy on the horizon either, with the Panthers (away), Dolphins (home), Cowboys (away) and Storm (home) over the next month.

The beginning of this match was diabolical from a Warriors perspective and will be a hard watch on review. The first try was set up by a brilliant move by Joseph Manu - who drew two defenders to set Dominic Young free, though the opportunity came after Johnson’s first kick of the day was charged down by Luke Keary, which set the tone.

A bust from the kickoff meant more pain, with Angus Crichton scoring at the end of the set. The Warriors needed to stem the bleeding - but an Ed Kosi knock-on led to more pressure, with a beautiful set move from the scrum shredding the left edge for Young’s second. The visitors fell apart again for Crichton’s second, in a perfect period for the Roosters.

Just when it was looking like things would completely fall apart, the Warriors somehow stopped the rot. They got some ball, dug in defensively and even forced a few errors from the home side.

Egan was in the wars again, while Johnson was struggling, accentuated by a chicken-wing tackle by Keary.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak went close after a Kosi tap back before Johnson found a hole to sneak over. It looked a neat try before Jackson Ford was pinged for obstruction - for the second successive week - which was another marginal call. The Warriors had their own reprieve just before halftime, with the bunker finding a Roosters’ knock-on.

A Sam Walker intercept - as the Warriors had a rare attacking chance - led to the Roosters’ fifth early in the second half, though Watene-Zelezniak’s covering tackle was one to savour.

From there, the Warriors managed a miniature recovery. Johnson set up Kosi in the corner, before Nicoll-Klokstad - who was one of the team’s best - ran hard to score. Fonua-Blake also powered over from a standing start for their third, though the Roosters grabbed two more tries to maintain their emphatic margin.

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