A scrappy and error-ridden NZ Warriors performance was enough to scrape past West Tigers 16-12 for their first win of the NRL season.
It was far from a clinical display from the New Zealand side, playing their first game since announcing they would return across the ditch for their first homes games in almost three years.
Two Reece Walsh penalty goals ended up being the difference, as the Warriors broke a five-game losing streak dating back to 2021, while the Tigers fall to 0-3 for the year.
For the third straight game, the Warriors went behind, when Tigers co-captain James Tamou broke through a tackle from Josh Curran to open the scoring after six minutes at Campbelltown Stadium.
Five minutes later, Euan Aitken gobbled up a Marcelo Montoya tap-back after an inch-perfect bomb from Chanel Harris-Tavita to level the scores.
Adam Pompey put the Warriors in front 15-minutes before the break, when Daine Laurie mistimed his leap and the ball fall into the hands of the away sides centre to stroll over.
Walsh, who was one of the Warriors best with 155 running metres and one line break, extended the away sides lead to 14-6 with a penalty goal.
But just moments before the break, Zane Musgrove crashed over to cut the Tigers deficit to two at halftime.
The second half was a nervous display filled with errors, as both teams hunted their first win of the season.
The Warriors had moments of promise with ball in hand, but continued to make mistakes, completing their sets at only 72 percent and making 12 errors for the evening.
Walsh extended the Warriors advantage to four in the 54th minute with his second penalty of the evening, after hooker Wayde Egan darted out of dummy half and caught the Tigers defence offside, as he hunted his third try of the year.
Tigers fullback Daine Laurie blew a golden opportunity to snatch the lead, after halfback Luke Brooks put a delightful infield grubber. Laurie only had to gather the kick and dive over the line, but he knocked the ball on.
The Warriors' task was made significantly tougher, when wing Marcelo Montoya was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate penalty.
Montoya gave away a professional foul for slowing the play-the-ball down, after Tigers five-eighth Jock Madden intercepted a stray Warriors pass and sprinted 80 metres.
As the visitors' defence scrambled, Montoya held Madden down and was given his marching orders by referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski with 11-minutes to play.
From then on, the Tigers dominated possession and territory, but looked like a winless side, as they lacked creativity.
In the final 10 minutes, the Tigers had several opportunities on the Warriors line, but handling errors continued to plague them as they failed to complete four of their last sets.
Warriors hung on for their first win of the season, moving to 11th on the ladder, while the Tigers remain winless in 15th.
Warriors will be back in action next Saturday against Brisbane Broncos at Redcliffe.
Warriors 16 (Aitken, Pompey tries; Walsh 2 conversion, 2 penalty goals) West Tigers 12 (Tamou, Musgrove tries; Brooks 2 conversions)
