Kiwi winger Manu Vatuvei maintained his rich vein of try-scoring form with a 75th-minute match-winner in the Vodafone Warriors’ second straight preseason victory on Sunday.
Vatuvei’s strike broke a 28-28 deadlock to give his side a 32-28 victory over North Queensland in front of an impressive 16,500-strong crowd at Albany’s North Harbour Stadium.
Vatuvei (22) scored 22 tries in 23 matches for the Kiwis, Vodafone Warriors and All Golds last year with 16 of those coming in 17 matches for his club.
And today’s four-pointer followed his match-sealing try in the Vodafone Warriors’ 24-12 trial win against Melbourne in Hamilton on February 12.
This was a trial that featured World Cup-winning Kiwis Simon Mannering, Nathan Fien and Jerome Ropati in their first run this season along with captain Steve Price and Brent Tate. Mannering, Fien, Price and Tate all started the match – Fien at halfback – with Ropati used for the second half only.
There was instant joy for the Vodafone Warriors when North Queensland knocked on from the kick-off and a minute later Fien’s cross-field bomb gifted Patrick Ah Van a try.
Only four minutes later ex-Bronco Joel Moon, teamed in the halves with Fien, ran superbly onto an Ian Henderson off load, stepping past the defence to give the home side a 10-0 lead.
While the Cowboys responded with two tries through some defensive lapses by the Vodafone Warriors, it was one of New Zealand’s World Cup heroes Lance Hohaia – on at fullback for the second 20 minutes – who re-ignited his side by cutting through North Queensland’s defence near his own line on a 90-metre run for a spectacular try.
Just before halftime and just after it, the Vodafone Warriors conceded soft tries to Shane Tronc, Carl Webb and Johnathan Thurston enabling the Cowboys to surge to a 28-16 lead with 20 minutes to go.
But the last quarter belonged to the Vodafone Warriors.
Stacey Jones was a key figure in the first of three tries in the space of 11 minutes (he was at halfback for the second half, first with Fien at standoff and then with Moon to finish the match).
Reading the situation perfectly, he floated out a lovely long ball for Malo Solomona to score wide out, Moon providing the extras.
Inside the last 10 minutes Moon had newcomer Lewis Brown, signed from Wests Tigers, running a great line to take his pass for another four-pointer. Moon’s conversion levelled the game up at 28-28 before the Vodafone Warriors created an opportunity for Vatuvei which he was never going to pass up, slipping three defenders in a power-packed surge to the line.
While the use of two referees in the Hamilton trial had run smoothly, it wasn’t as successful today.
Ashley Klein and Alan Shortall shared the whistle and racked up a total of 28 penalties between them, the count favouring the Vodafone Warriors 15-13. After numerous penalties for holding down offences, the Cowboys had Ashley Graham and Ty Williams men sin-binned inside the last 10 minutes, meaning the visitors finished the game with only 11 men on the field.
Match details:
At North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Vodafone Warriors 32 (Patrick Ah Van, Joel Moon, Lance Hohaia, Malo Solomona, Lewis Brown, Manu Vatuvei tries; Denan Kemp 2 conversions; Joel Moon 2 conversions).
North Queensland Cowboys 28 (Ben Farrar, Willie Tonga, Shane Tronc, Carl Webb, Johnathan Thurston tries; John Williams 2 conversions; Johnathan Thurston 2 conversions).
Halftime: 18-16 Cowboys.
Referees: Ashley Klein and Alan Shortall.
Crowd: 16,500.
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