The New Zealand Warriors booked a 2011 NRL grand final appointment with Manly-Warringah with a solid 20-12 win over minor premiers Melbourne in front of a 25,580 crowd at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
The eight-point margin is not an accurate reflection of the difference between the two sides on the night, with the Warriors dominating their opponents for all but the first ten minutes.
It was the home side that opened the scoring after five minutes when Storm backrower Sika Manu strolled through a yawning gap to score close to the posts for Cameron Smith to convert. That, however, was the only time during the match that Melbourne was to hold the lead.
The New Zealanders, steadied by some solid work in the centre by Lillyman, Mannering, Rapira and Packer, levelled with a converted try to Bill Toupo after twelve minutes. Shortly afterwards, James Maloney benefited from a gem of an offload from Micheal Luck to score under the posts.
In the 35th minute Gold Coast-bound centre Beau Champion made it 12-all when he burst on to a Billy Slater pass and streaked 60 metres to the tryline. In the shadows of halftime, Maloney slotted a penalty for the Kiwis to hold a 14-12 margin at the break.
It was to be 37 minutes into the second half before another point was registered. Throughout the half the Warriors played sensible, composed football that enabled them to deny the Storm any genuine scoring opportunities. As the clock wound down, will ‘o the wisp halfback Shaun Johnson threw a series of dummies as he drifted towards the left flank where he found centre Lewis Brown who crashed over. Maloney converted from out wide to take the final score to 20-12.
The Warriors revealed plenty of steel in their makeup to deny Melbourne any scoring opportunities during the second half. In essence, they borrowed a blueprint from their opponents and used it to plot their demise. The Warriors employed the trademark Melbourne tactic of making plenty of ground with surges from dummy half. They backed this up with astute pinpoint kicking and relentless defence to ensure the Storm were forced to seek field position from deep within their own territory. Their defence around the rucks largely nullified Storm captain Cameron Smith’s ability to control and dictate the tempo.
The Warriors now face Manly-Warringah in the grand final in Sydney next Sunday, their second trip to the premiership decider after their loss to the Sydney Roosters in 2002.
NZ Warriors 20 (Bill Tupou, Lewis Brown, James Maloney tries; Maloney 4 goals) def Melbourne Storm 12 (Sika Manu, Beau Champion tries; Cameron Smith 2 goals)