The Warriors have held on to beat the Cowboys in one of the scrappiest affairs of the season at Mt Smart Stadium.
The match – which statistics might suggest was played in the wet – was riddled with errors and poor discipline from both sides, as neither was ever really able to truly get a grip on the contest.
Even the Bunker got on in the action late in the clash.
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Late in the second half, Warriors winger Edward Kosi looked for all money to have lost the ball – and referee Chris Sutton ruled as such.
The Warriors threw what appeared to be a speculative at best captain’s challenge, and replays seemed to show the ball clearly touched the ground, but the Bunker ruled he regathered it, and the challenge was successful.
“Oh come on – OPSM,” league great Steve Roach quipped in commentary for Fox Sports.
“But it was right just as it hit the ground, just a little bobble there.”
Although going down in the final scoreline, the Cowboys dominated possession for much of the match, winning the stat 57-43.
They also made 80 fewer tackles than the Warriors, and made six errors to the Warriors’ 10.
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But they conceded nine penalties to seven, and missed a whopping 40 tackles.
The afternoon was summed up by a farcical sequence of play in the dying minutes.
Scott Drinkwater gave away a penalty for an early tackle, but the Cowboys escaped further punishment when Shaun Johnson missed the kick.
From the 20m drop out though, Drinkwater put the ball out on the full to give Johnson another crack from dead in front, which he didn’t miss.
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