A 50th-minute hat-trick from Marcelo Montoya has guided the NZ Warriors to a thumping win over the Wests Tigers in their NRL pre-season opener.
New recruits Te Maire Martin, Luke Metcalf, Jackson Ford, and Brayden Wiliame all featured in the dominant 48-12 victory at Mt Smart Stadium.
Metcalf and Ford both crossed for their tries, while Martin and Wiliame had a hand in the side's first few scores.
But it was Montoya that impressed the most with several charging runs for his three tries, including a brilliant finish to bump off Tigers fullback Charlie Stains for his second.
Warriors centre Viliiami Vailea showed great awareness for his double strike, pouncing on a loose pass to grab his first try, before a well-read intercept for his second.
Moala Graham-Taufa and Solomon Vasuvulagi also grabbed a try each late to cap off an encouraging first win under Webster.
Warriors halfback Martin was delighted to see the fruits of their labour in training pay off in their first trial match, but admit there's still a long way to go.
"We've been practicing everything and I thought we executed well. Luke Metcalf steered the ship around and I thought he did really well," he said.
"We got to see his pace on display tonight so it was good to see. We're a long way off where we want to be but it's in a step in the right direction.
"I had Webby [Andrew Webster] in under 20s at Tigers and he's still the same, a really good guy. He's really family-orientated and has got a good balance with his assistant crew. He has got a lot of respect from the playing group."
The Warriors will now head to Christchurch for their final game of the pre-season against the Melbourne Storm on February 19.
