Source: Radio New Zealand
Mitch Barnett returned to the Warrior side against Newcastle Knights. David Neilson/Photosport
Analysis – Skipper Mitch Barnett’s comeback from season-ending knee injury has helped inspire his NZ Warriors to their best NRL start in eight years and second-best in history.
After losing three of last week’s starters, coach Andrew Webster was able to pull a few rabbits out of his hat to cover their absences – including two debuts and the return of an old favourite.
In his final season with the Warriors, Barnett, 31, was held out of the opening two games of the 2026 campaign as a precaution, but his arrival onto his old stomping ground of McDonald Jones Stadium helped boost his side when they needed it most.
“Awesome,” Webster confirmed. “He laid on that try for Jacko and it was nice to hear the Knights fans give him a cheer too.
“It was good to have him back. The last three weeks, he’s made life pretty hard for everyone at training, running hard and tackling like crazy.
“He’ll play more minutes in coming weeks and had to move him to edge-back row, where he did a great job.”
Barnett’s addition to the rotation will cause Webster some headaches over coming weeks, as he tries to balance his team’s winning momentum with the inclusion of their spiritual leader.
Here’s what we learnt from the 38-12 win over the Knights.
Best player
Hard to go past Dally M Medal leader Jackson Ford, who must surely take maximum points again from his 100th NRL appearance.
For the second time this season, he led the Warriors in both running metres (236) and tackles (44) – he led them in tackles for the third time – while also scoring his second try of the season.
Ford already paced the competition in post-contact metres, but chalked up 96 more in this performance, while slotting the first goal of his career, with the conversion of Luke Hanson’s last-gasp try.
“I didn’t get to see it, but I hear it was pretty cool,” Webster said. “He’s getting a lot of praise at the moment and he deserves it, but we’ve been celebrating him internally for a long time now.
“I’m glad everyone’s finally seeing it.”
Webster has a selection dilemma on his hand, now that Barnett is back to reclaim his No.10 jersey.
Despite Barnett’s return, Ford never left the field, after logging 70 minutes-plus in the two previous games.
Jackson Ford celebrates his 100th NRL game with ‘Mahi Mark’. David Neilson/Photosport
With a motor that big, maybe you keep Barnett on the interchange, tag-teaming with fellow skipper James Fisher-Harris and keeping the veterans fresh for a late-season charge.
Webster has a similar predicament at halfback, where Tanah Boyd produced another sterling performance, scoring his third try in as many games, laying on two try assists, breaking the line twice and assisting on another linebreak.
Only Ford’s form has robbed Boyd of more Dally M love, as he led his team with 87 Fantasy NRL points, and his dominance will make it hard for Webster to drop him, when Luke Metcalf becomes available next month.
Fisher-Harris continued his fine early-season touch, while lock Erin Clark is back to where he left off last season, when he was Dally M Lock of the Year.
Key moment
With halftime looming, the Warrior only led 12-6, but were on the right side of a heavy penalty count.
Referee Liam Kennedy had warned the Knights for their repeated infringement at the previous kickoff and finally snapped, when fullback Fletcher Hunt strayed offside near his own goal-line.
With Hunt in the bin, the Warriors needed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and did that, when debutant Luke Hanson put makeshift centre Leka Halasima across for a try and an 18-6 advantage at the break.
Last time Halasima appeared at this venue, he broke Knights’ hearts with his last-minute gamewinner – this one almost as important.
Halasima has now scored four tries in three games and doesn’t seem to care where he does it from – off the interchange, from the second row or the midfield.
The Warriors piled on 30 consecutive points, before the Knights could catch their breath, effectively ending the contest with 20 minutes still remaining.
That’s become a bit of trend this season.
Two weeks ago, they were 6-6 with Sydney Roosters, before unleashing 22 points either side of halfway to build an unassailable lead.
Last week, they conceded the first try to Canberra Raiders, before a 40-point avalanche that buried their opponents.
Best try
Again, so many to choose from.
Was it Barnett’s assist to Ford in the latter’s 100th game or Clark’s first for the Warriors in his 29th outing?
Let’s give it to the final flourish, where wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak gathered a desperate Knights kick after the final siren and offloaded to fullback Taine Tuaupiki, who was a threat every time he touched the ball all night.
Tuaupiki burnt the Knights defence and had the tryline open, but heard the call from Hanson in support and threw a pass that had his mate sidestepping the goalpost to score.
Luke Hanson and Taine Tuaupiki celebrate their last-gasp try against Newcastle. David Neilson/Photosport
Hanson was able to celebrate his arrival in top grade appropriately, with Ford’s conversion the cherry on top.
Should first-grade be this much fun?
Injuries
While Hanson enjoyed a dream debut, the same couldn’t be said for Englishman Morgan Gannon, who lasted less than five minutes, before knocking himself out in a tackle and leaving with concussion.
He will sit out next week, but the Warriors seemed to escape any further casualties.
Hooker Wayde Egan left for a head check midway through the second half, but he was probably due for replacement anyway and returned for the final 10 minutes to close out the game.
There will be a few sore bodies on Sunday and maybe a little concern over Boyd, who was collected in a heavy tackle, as he kicked across the field late. Knights front-rower Trey Mooney was sent to the bin and Boyd walked off what will hopefully prove nothing more than a cork to his leg.
Tuaupiki and Fisher-Harris also stayed down after tackles, and Ford copped an elbow from Dane Gagai to the head, but all remained on the field afterwards.
Barnett seemed to come through 36 minutes without incident, entering the action after 25 minutes and leaving 20 minutes into the second half.
Presumably, fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita will be off concussion protocols and available next week, but second-rower Kurt Capewell’s calf will likely keep him sidelined for a few more weeks yet.
Centre Adam Pompey had his attendance record blemished, when he stayed in Auckland on babywatch. He’ll surely be back next week.
Newcastle Knights
Apparently, Knights coach Justin Holbrook was not impressed with the first-half refereeing and the final penalty count was 11-4 against, with two players sin-binned and three on report.
“I’m not a referee and, if that’s the way he sees it, it’s up to us to fix it,” he offered diplomatically afterwards.
“We haven’t had an issue with it until today, we got it wrong and paid the price for it.”
That’s also become a bit of a trend for the Warriors this season.
Two weeks ago, Roosters coach Trent Robinson seethed over the 11-4 count against his team and the NRL refs almost seem to be making up for all those years that the Warriors have suffered from suspect officiating.
Morgan Gannon’s NRL debut ends early with concussion. David Neilson/Photosport
Newcastle were also unbeaten over their opening two games, emulating last season’s start, when they lost their final nine games and ultimately took the wooden spoon.
“It wasn’t good obviously,” reflected Holbrook. “We played two really good games to start the year, but we were poor with the ball today and made some really basic errors.
“Our skill was poor and obviously our discipline, and you make the game really hard against an opposition that did the opposite of that. We had a tough afternoon.”
They have problems without injured stars Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Brown, and may lose more to judiciary next week.
Newcastle face another daunting challenge next Saturday, when they travel to unbeaten Canterbury Bulldogs.
What this result means
Don’t look now, but the Warriors are top of the table, baby!
OK, still only week three, but they have a points differential advantage over Penrith Panthers, while Melbourne Storm’s loss to Brisbane Broncos sees them slide a step behind.
The only team that could have topped them this weekend were – incredibly – Wests Tigers, who needed a 56-point win over South Sydney Rabbitohs. They couldn’t manage that.
This is just the second time in club history the Warriors have reeled off three wins to start their season – they managed five straight to start the 2018 campaign.
One hundred-and-twenty points across three games make them the most potent attack in the competition. That’s also the most they’ve ever scored in their opening three games.
What’s next
Next Friday, the Warriors will host the Tigers, whom they have beaten in their last nine encounters.
After several years of mediocrity, Kiwi legend Benji Marshall has dragged Wests off the bottom of the competition, finishing 13th last season.
They started this season with a bye and a promising 44-16 win over North Queensland Cowboys that convinced many they may be playoff contenders.
On Saturday night, South Sydney Rabbitohs dented that perception, with a thrilling 20-16 win over the Tigers, who also lost halves Jarome Luai and Adam Doueihi to injury.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand