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Warriors denied epic comeback against Broncos

David Long

The Warriors came close to pulling off a remarkable comeback against the Broncos last night, only for Marcelo Montoya’s try in the final moments of the game to be disallowed.

The Warriors looked dead and buried with nine minutes to go, but late tries by Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Montoya got them within four points in Napier.

It looked as if they’d done enough to at least draw the game when Montoya went in again in the 79th minute, but the bunker ruled that Adam Pompey held the jersey of Mariner in the buildup so the try was rubbed out.

It would have been one of the comebacks of the season had the Warriors got the win, but it wasn’t to be and they paid the price for not being at their best for large parts of the night.

Despite another good kicking display from Shaun Johnson, the Warriors struggled to worry the organised Broncos defence when they got inside their red zone.

The Broncos had to cope with losing five players to State of Origin and the club has always struggled getting through this period of the season.

But it’s a part of the year where the Warriors, who’ve rarely had Origin players, need to make ground on other teams and this was a missed opportunity to take two points against one of the NRL’s heavyweights.

The theme of the first half was players not able to ground the ball over the line, but the deadlock was eventually broken in the 23rd minute when Montoya couldn’t grab a loose pass from Luke Metcalf and Deine Mariner seized on it, racing 70m to score.

As the half went on, the Broncos looked the more dominant team, but against the run of play, Watene-Zelezniak squeezed in on the right edge and grounded the ball as he dived over the line.

Just before the break, the Warriors were on the end of yet another tough call this season as Billy Waters’ pass to Jordan Riki a metre from the home team’s line was clearly forward.

Tohu Harris complained to referee Gerard Sutton, but the bunker can’t rule on forward passes in the NRL so the try stood.

The Warriors lost Lussick and Nicoll-Klokstad to HIAs early in the second half and that led to Bayley Sironen playing dummy half, Watene-Zelezniak going to fullback, Berry shifting to the wing and Marata Niukore moving to centre.

The Broncos soon capitalised on the Warriors’ makeshift right edge and Adam Reynolds carved them up to set up a try for Ezra Mam.

Watene-Zelezniak got himself a brace just after the hough mark, but the end of the game was blighted by a series of pitch invaders that resulted in numerous stoppages. There were further tries to Mariner and Nicoll-Klokstad and Montoya before the moment where the Warriors could have scored again to snatch the victory.

The big moment

Yet another officiating call that went against the Warriors, with Billy Waters’ pass to Jordan Riki that led to a try clearly forward.

Match rating

7/10: Both teams struggled to

complete their sets and didn’t play as well as they have in other games this season. However, the sold-out crowd of 16,195 helped make this a special occasion.

MVP

Adam Reynolds was sublime at halfback for the Broncos, particularly in the second half when he carried this young team on his back with his kicking and runs.

The big picture

This loss sees the Warriors continue to hang around the edges of the top eight and with tricky games against the Dolphins and Raiders coming up, they’re in a crucial part of their season.

SPORT

en-nz

2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282316799412694

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