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Warriors 10 Sharks 46
Fulltime
Sharks 46 (Katoa 2, Ramien 2, Johnson, Hamlin-Uele, Mulitalo & Kennedy tries; Johnson 7 goals) Warriors 10 (Maumalo & Egan tries; RTS goal)
39th minute: TRY to Egan
Warriors take a short kickoff and Lawton gathers. Tevaga and RTS produce offloads for Egan to score next to the posts. RTS converts and Sharks drop out of the eight.
The final siren comes as a relief. So many wasted opportunities by the Warriors, who seem to be ghost-walking through the competition at this stage.
38th minute: TRY to Ramien
Harris passes to no-one, Sione Katoa gathers and passes one-handed to Ramien, who beats the defence for his second try. Final pass looked forward, but at this stage, it's all academic.
Johnson converts from in front and that try does put the Sharks into the top eight on points differential.
36th minute: Hamlin-Uele takes a half-gap, but spills the ball to let the Warriors off the hook.
35th minute: Townsend bombs towards Fusitu'a, but Green pounces on the loose ball.
Hetherington loses the ball and Sharks will have the ball on the Warriors 30.
33rd minute: RTS and Maumalo make metres for the Warriors, Tevaga reaches halfway, Nikorima rockets through a gap and flicks a backhand pass to Katoa.
Katoa tries to find Nikorima with a return pass, but the ball goes astray with the line open.
32nd minute: Harris surges over halfway, Nikorima kicks high, but Kennedy is safe.
30th minute: Townsend kicks long and the Warriors will have to restart from their own 10. Green rejoins the action.
29th minute: On the last tackle, the ball goes right again, but Lawton's final pass goes behind Fusitu'a with the line beckoning.
28th minute: Sharks have the Warriors at their mercy, but Townsend's pass left is about five metres forward.
26th minute: Blair offloads to RTS and the ball goes right, but Lawton can't release the final pass for Fusitu'a. Sharks pounce on a loose ball.
25th minute: Warriors spread the ball left, Nikorima chips towards the posts, but Townsend leaps high to batt the ball dead, ahead of RTS' pursuit.
24th minute: Is there a mercy rule in rugby league?
Rudolph charges upfield, but loses the ball while playing it.
22nd minute: TRY to Katoa
The ball moves right and quick hands from Graham, Johnson and Townsend, along with a decoy runner and a man short in the defensive line provies room for Katoa to grab his second try. Johnson convert.
21st minute: Royce Hunt is dragged down millimetres short of the line, but on the last tackle, Tevaga charges out of the defensive line and concedes another six tackles.
20th minute: Townsend kicks to the line with Ramien chasing, but Fusitu'a is there to guide the ball over dead ball for a dropout. A couple of Sharks players are taken out of the pursuit, so a professional foul is awarded and Green heads to the bench for 10 minutes.
19th minute: Rudolph spills the ball in a tackle, but Green can't hold a pass to turn possession over again.
18th minute: Sharks with the ball from the kickoff...
16th minute: TRY to Ramien
Sharks move the ball right at speed, Johnson creates space for Ramien to run onto and he beats RTS to the corner. Johnson misses his first kick of the day off the right upright.
15th minute: Fusitu'a finds space out right, but his speculator pass goes loose and Warriors are penalised for obstructing Wade Graham, as he tries to gather.
14th minute: Johnson kicks high, RTS catches on the 10. Lawton surges out of dummy half.
13th minute: Lawton and Papali'i make good ground out right, Green kicks high towards Fusitu'a, but the Warriors can't regather.
12th minute: On the last tackle, Johnson grubbers, but Ramien is tackled and hands the ball over.
11th minute: Green kicks on the last, but Kennedy gathers and makes good ground towards halfway.
10th minute: Townsend kicks early, but RTS gathers.
Ninth minute: Maumalo is almost in again, but on the last tackle, Egan throws a flat pass that Katoa has no chance of catching. Warriors waste a captain's challenge disputing the knock-on ruling.
Eighth minute: Nikorima puts a high into the 10m, but it's spilled forward by Kennedy and gathered by an offside Johnson. Warriors have a penalty on the 10m - another opportunity to squander.
Sixth minute: Warriors cross halfway, but Hetherington loses the ball in an offload. Mulitalo surges forward, but loses the ball in Katoa's tackle
Fifth minute: Patrick Herbert has failed an HIA, which will cause a reshuffle in the Warriors backline. Maybe Lawton goes to centre.
Second minute: TRY to Katoa
Warriors are quickly over halfway, Green kicks to the goalposts on the last, Johnson gathers and uses the posts to evade a tackle. He sprints upfield and finds Katoa steaming up in support down the right.
Hiku seems to have Katoa covered, but the Sharks wing cuts inside and then back out, wrongfooting Hiku and diving over in the corner. Johnson converts from the sideline.
First minute: Warriors kick off and Talakai brings the ball back towards the 30.
Talakai makes another surging run later in the set and on the last, the ball is dribbled over the dead-ball line.
If the Sharks win by 37 points today, they can move into the NRL top eight. Hetherington has passe his HIA.
Halftime
Sharks 24 (Johnson, Hamlin-Uele, Mulitalo & Kennedy tries; Johnson 4 goals) Warriors 4 (Maumalo try)
Warriors have managed 50 percent of possession and 28 tackles in the opposition 20, but have squandered their opportunities. So many opportunities...
This is almost like a golfer with the putting yips. So many opportunities, but just can't hole a put -or touch the ball down.
40th minute: One last chance for the Warriors, when Katoa spills the ball, but the ball goes left again and Hiku can't catch Nikorima's delayed pass - again. The siren sounds for halftime.
39th minute: From the scrum, the ball goes left, where Nikorima and Hiku make ground, but on the last tackle, they lose control of the ball and another chance dies.
37th minute: Brailey loses the ball in midfield, so the Warriors will have another chance to mount an attack.
35th minute: Passi and Harris surge towards the posts. Green's grubber dribbles towards the posts, Nikora gathers and is dragged back over the line - Warriors penalised.
34th minute: From the penalty, the ball goes right, but Johnson's long looping pass bounces into touch - a let-off for the Warriors.
Graham is penalised for a high tackle on Herbert, so Warriors in good position to mount an attack. They earn another penalty and are now hot on attack.
33rd minute: From the tap, Rudolph is absolutely flattened by Passi. A melee ensues and Passi is penalised.
32nd minute: Green kicks high across field, but it bounces wildly, Tevaga hacks it into the goal area, but it runs dead.
After an injury stoppage, Rudolph loses the ball in a tackle, but a captain's challenge finds Egan has slapped it out.
31st minute: Graham chips on the last, but Fusitu'a catches at head height.
30th minute: Egan has passed his head test, but now Hetherington is getting one.
28th minute: TRY to Johnson
Mulitalo surges upfield and the Sharks are in prime attacking position again. On the last tackle, Johnson grubbers towards the posts, Green and Harris both miss the ball, which also evades Townend, but Johnson is following and touches down just inside the dead ball.
You know he loves that against the team that didn't want him and he converts for good measure.
27th minute: Nikorima kicks on the last tackle and it lands under the crossbar. The ball bounces awkwardly and the Sharks are forced to dropout.
Unfortunately, Taunoa-Brown loses the ball in the first tackle, so another wasted opportunity.
26th minute: Lawton is tackled and loses the ball - ref calls a strip and the Warriors are now inside Sharks half from the penalty.
25th minute: Sharks surging towards the Warriors line, but Johnson dies with the ball and has to hand the ball over.
24th minute: Egan is undergoing a head assessment, as his team have the ball from kickoff.
Tevaga surges up the middle, followed by RTS from dummy half.
22nd minute: TRY to Maumalo
With six more tackles, Green goes left and Nikorima double-pumps his pass to Maumalo, who has plenty of space to cross in the corner. Nikorima swings his conversion into the left upright and away.
21st minute: On the last tackle, Green kicks to the goal-line, Mulitalo gathers at speed, but spills the ball in the tackle. Warriors back on attack.
20th minute: Green kicks across field towards Fusitu'a, but the Warriors winger can't catch it. Instead, a captain's challenge shows the ball grazes Mulitalo into touch and Warriors win a scrum 10m out from the line.
19th minute: Hamlin-Uele drops the ball only a few metres out from the line and Warriors gather, earning a relieving penalty. They're back on attack.
Scott Sorenson leaves the field and Rudolph comes on - he seemed to be heading to the Warriors next year, but maybe not now.
18th minute: Brailey is rocked by a bone-jarring late tackle from Hetherington and Warriors are penalised. Egan has been helped off the field, Katoa coming on.
17th minute: Sharks with the ball from kickoff - maybe we can just copy and paste that line.
15th minute: TRY to Mulitalo
Sharks on attack, Graham to Dugan, who lures the winger infield and then slips a pass to the unmarked Mulitalo to touch down in the corner. Too easy.
Johnson converts.
14th minute: Green throws a hard pass that hits Lawton in the head at point blank range. Warriors are immediately penalised and Sharks clear their territory.
13th minute: Johnson kicks long from his goal-line and Sharks are penalised for a hand in the play-the-ball.
12th minute: On the last, Green kicks to the goal-line and Kennedy is trapped for dropout,
11th minute: Sharks with the ball from the kickoff and on the last tackle, Johnson kicks from his own half, but out on the full.
Eighth minute: TRY to Kennedy
Sharks on attack, but a loose ball comes off a Warrior and Fusitu'a is run into touch. From an attacking scrum, Kennedy finds a gap in the defensive line out right and scores.
This is going to be another one of those days for the Warriors! Johnson converts from out wide.
Seventh minute: Patrick Herbert appears to score a try, after Fusitu'a pounces on a loose ball and manages to stay in the field of play.
The try goes upstairs to see if Fusitua's stays in, but replays show Herbert dropped the ball before forcing it. That's a coach killer.
Sixth minute: Townend kicks high and RTS is safe.
Fifth minute: Sharks back in possession from the kick-off.
Fourth minute: TRY to Hamlin-Uele
Oh dear, another Warriors escapee comes back to bite the Auckland team. He runs onto a nice ball and leaves Green groping at air, running under the posts for an easy conversion by Johnson.
Sharks 6-0.
Third minute: Green kicks deep again, but he's kicking from deep inside his own half - Warriors losing territorial battle early.
Second minute: Townsend kicks high Fusitu'a on the last tackle.
First minute: Sharks kick off and Taunoa-Brown takes the first hit-up.
Green kicks deep on the last, Mulitalo runs back and gets flattened by Blair.
*****
Of course, the big taking point for today's game will be the chance to go up against Shaun Johnson, who has been such a big piece of Warriors history, but now plys his trade in the 'Shire'.
The Sharks suffered a big loss to Penrith Panthers last week, so they'll want to bounce back quickly.
*****
Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the NRL clash between NZ Warriors and Cronulla Sharks from Central Coast Stadium.
The Warriors are aiming to bounce back from last weekend's shock loss to Gold Coast Titans, while maintaining their 100 percent win record at Gosford. The Warriors are 13th on the NRL table with a 3-6 record.
Cronulla have had their own struggles this season, as they sit 10th on the NRL ladder with a 4-5 record, although former Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson is leading the competition in try assists with 13.
The Sharks have defeated the Warriors in five of their past six meetings, including a 42-16 win in August last season.
Kick-off is 4pm.
Betting odds: Warriors $2.55, Sharks $1.48
League great Andrew Johns calls NZ Warriors' decision to boot Blake Green 'crazy'
NRL great Andrew Johns has labelled NZ Warriors management "crazy" for allowing Blake Green to leave the club in 2021.
The 33-year-old playmaker has been deemed surplus to requirements beyond this season, as club owner Mark Robinson rebuilds the struggling squad after Stephen Kearney's departure.
Green joins Gerard Beale and reportedly Adam Blair on the chopping block, but Johns is bemused the club is willing to part ways with such an experienced, capable and proven hand as Green.
"It leaves them without a rudder," Johns has told Wide World of Sports' Immortal Behaviour.
"They've always been a club with so much potential - they have such a big team, but they've always lacked direction since Stacey Jones retired.
"Blake Green has done a marvellous job there, he's a really great game manager. He's not one of those players that will win you a game, but he keeps them on track.
"He's the rudder in the ship that keeps them going. Without him, I don't know who organises the team."
Johns, an NRL immortal, has been particularly impressed with Green's efforts in 2020, with the veteran half playing a key role in the club's three wins this season.
The Australian was particularly effective against the Broncos earlier this month, turning the match with his kicking game and option-taking.
The former Newcastle Knights star believes Green will attract quality buyers, including his former club, which is riding high this season, well inside the playoff spots.
"He would be a great pick up - your obvious ones are the Broncos, the 'Dogs, even Newcastle," he says.
"Newcastle have got Kurt Mann as a five-eighth, but not a recognised five-eighth. [Green] would be a great pick-up for any club."
While critical of the Warriors' recruitment decisions, Johns says he has no issue with several players returning home after three months in Australia.
David Fusitu'a, Ken Maumalo, Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa have all been booked to fly back to New Zealand on July 27.
John credited the players for sticking in as long as they had, calling their decision to leave Australia as "totally understandable" given the circumstances.
