Warriors claim victory in Coffs

Manu Vatuvei heads toward the tryline to finish off his barnstorming 70 metre run that was the highlight of the match.

Trevor Veale

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THREE tries in 10 minutes saw the New Zealand Warriors claim a 22-14 victory over South Sydney at BCU International Stadium.

Two quality tries to Manu Vatuvei were the highlights for the Warriors in the win, yet the Kiwis will be sweating on the health of the Rapira brothers, who were both injured early in the piece.

Torrential rain before kickoff failed to deter Coffs Coast footy fans with 5376 braving the conditions to watch what was a hard fought match.

Both sides started the match with intent, hitting the ball up and tackling hard.

Much to the disappointment of the Rabbitohs faithful, it was the Warriors who were first to break the deadlock.

Simon Mannering took advantage of some quick thinking from dummy half Nathan Friend in the fifth minute to break through some sloppy South Sydney defence and cross the stripe.

Despite conceding early points the Rabbitohs looked to maintain its hard running game plan giving plenty of touches to bruising second rower Dave Taylor.

Feleti Mateo provided an anxious moment for his coach with a speculative pass close to his own line that hit the ground and saw both sides scrambling for the loose ball.

It took 18 minutes but the Rabbitohs finally got on the score sheet when Taylor ploughed over two Warriors defenders in the corner after a spell of sustained pressure.

Handling errors played a big factor for both sides going into the half with neither team able to add to its total.

The Warriors going into the halftime break leading South Sydney 6-4.

Whatever was said by Warriors coach Brian McClennan at the break surely worked with his side coming out of the sheds full of energy and enthusiasm.

Just like the first half it took only five minutes for the Warriors to score, this time through Konrad Hurrel.

Slick backline passing created an overlap for the Warriors with Hurrell sliding into the corner to complete the play.

Despite a slow start to the game, hulking winger Vatuvei well and truly turned the match in the Kiwis favour with two amazing tries.

Vatuvei cleaned up a pinpoint accurate grubber from Kevin Locke in the corner for his first try of the night.

However it was his second that is sure to be a fixture on the New Zealand internationals highlight reel for years to come.

Receiving the ball in space on his 30 metre line Vatuvei ran 70 metres, sending two Rabbitohs defenders flying before crossing the line near the posts.

The Rabbitohs provided a few bright spots in the dying stages of the match with tries to Andrew Everingham and Kurt French, the Warriors winning the match 22-14.

Warriors coach Brian McLennan praised his side's defensive effort.

"We defended a lot and although that was because of our own cause, it gave us plenty of tackling practice and that impressed me," McClennan said.

"We are two or three weeks away from the first week of the season and I wanted to give my players some good minutes.

"We wanted to improve on some areas from last week and overall I feel we have."

Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire was looking to the positives despite his side's loss

"There were plenty of good things to take out of the game tonight," Maguire said.

"A number of players put their hand up and put their body on the line but we just couldn't hold it together for the full 80 minutes."

With the next few days based at Pacific Bay Resort for a training camp, Maguire believes his team will be able to bounce back for next Saturday's charity shield match against the Dragons.

"We are going to sit down as a side and go through tonight's match to pick up on what we need to improve on," he said.

"It will be good to spend some time up here in Coffs Harbour and being in camp together will give the players a nice change of scenery before the start of the regular season."

NZ WARRIORS 22 (M Vatuvei 2 S Mannering K Hurrel tries; S Johnson 2 J Maloney goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 14 (D Taylor K French A Everingham tries; D Farrell goal).
At BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour.
Crowd: 5376