Ahead early in the second half with a big wind at their backs, NZ Warriors have conceded three unanswered tries to drop their NRL season-opener against St George Dragons 28-16 at Sunshine Coast.
Winger Marcelo Montoya will be having nightmares about counterpart Mikaele Ravalawa, after the powerful Fijian tormented his Warriors marker, running over and around despairing defenders for a hat-trick of tries.
Slow out of the blocks, the Auckland side found themselves trailling 12-0 early, after Ravalawa opened the scoring and second-rower Jack Bird doubled down within the first 15 minutes.
The Warriors only had themselves to blame, committing unforced errors to present golden opportunities to their rivals. Bird's try came, after Eliesa Katoa dropped a goal-line dropout, Euan Aitken was penalised inside the Dragons half and a long kick was allowed to bounce into touch by retreating players.
Winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak somehow put his side on the board, when he grubbered to the corner and the ball cruelly evaded two converging defenders, before the Kiwis captain touched down to score.
Before halftime, they had another, when Shaun Johnson put second-rower Josh Curran through a gap on halfway and he found hooker Wayde Egan looming in support to score, as the Warriors reached the break just 12-10 behind.
Turning with the aid of a big wind, they snatched the lead soon after the restart, when Johnson unleashed a massive 40-20 that was closer to 30-20 and had Ravalawa in fits, trying to keep the ball in play.
From 10 metres out, Johnson then put Katoa through a hole with a pass that looked marginally forward, but was allowed to stand and momentum seemed to have turned the Warriors' way.
But they continued squandering golden opportunities to put the contest away. From a scrum 10 metres out, Johnson floated a long pass to Watene-Zelezniak, who couldn't gather the ball with an open line.
St George edged ahead, when Ravalawa ran over the top of Montoya and barely kept his hand on the ball, as it seemed to bobble free. Moments later, he stretched the margin, wrongfooting Montoya and powering across, despite the efforts of fullback Chanel Harris-Tavita.
Replacement dummy half Moses Mbye finally put the game beyond the Warriors' reach, before Ravalawa rubbed one last grain of salt into Montoya's wounds, stopping his rival dead in the corner, as he sought a last-minute consolation try.
In his comeback to the Warriors jersey, Johnson showed the form that has frustrated fans over his career, brilliantly engineering two of this team's three tries, but attempting a crazy crossfield kick in his own half that led to Ravalawa's third try.
They will hope to bury this week's bitter memories - and aftertaste of last season's horrible finale - when they face Gold Coast Titans next Saturday.
St George Dragons 28 (Ravalawa 3, Mbye & Bird tries, Lomax 3 conversions & penalty) NZ Warriors 16 (Watene-Zelezniak, Katoa & Egan tries, Johnson 2 conversions)
Join us at 5pm Saturday for live updates of the Warriors v Titans NRL clash
