NZ Warriors freefall continues vs Bulldogs
- NZ Sports Wire
- Aug 10
- 2 min read
The NZ Warriors have dropped their third straight match and fallen out of the NRL's top-four for the first time since April.
The Warriors were overpowered in the first half in the wet at Sydney's Accor Stadium on Saturday night, eventually losing 32-14 to the Canterbury Bulldogs during the Round 23 Indigenous Round.
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The Bulldogs played perfect wet weather football, while nothing went right for the Warriors, with mistakes, indiscipline and more casualties.
The loss of halfback Te Maire Martin, who was a late switch for Tanah Boyd in the first half with concussion meant a major reshuffle.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad moved to five-eighth and they also lost Leka Halasima and Kurt Capewell to head injury assessments, although both returned.
The result drops the Warriors outside the top four for the first time since mid-April.
The Bulldogs dominated the first half, keeping possesion and territory and limiting the Warriors to just 33% possession (12 sets to 25) for a score of 20-2.
The visitors did equal the score in the second half after tries late to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Sam,uel Healey, but the Bulldogs were still too strong and came up with two tries of their own.
Canterbury Bulldogs 32 (Viliame Kikau, Jethro Rinakama, Enari Tuala 2, Stephen Crichton tries; Stephen Crichton 3 con, 3 pen) NZ Warriors 14 (Sam Healey, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck tries; Adam Pompey 2 con, pen). HT: 20-2
