The Warriors have won a thrilling golden-point battle over Canberra after Shaun Johnson kicked a 35-metre field goal in a 21-20 victory that consolidates a top-four position on the NRL ladder.
Seemingly cruising to victory with a 20-10 lead, the Warriors let in two late tries to allow the visitors to level the scores.
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In a dramatic finish with two minutes of normal time left, Elliott Whitehead scored on the short side and Jarrod Croker’s conversion split the posts.
From the kick-off, the Raiders spread it wide and Jack Wighton was on hand to race away and score in the opposite corner.
Crucially, Croker couldn’t repeat his heroics, his missed conversion sending the game to extra time.
A seven-tackle restart was all the Warriors needed in golden point as they made their way upfield to set up Johnson for his strike that ended the match at 21-20 in front of 19,112 fans at Mt Smart Stadium.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster joked about needing a heart-rate monitor after the game’s frantic finish, adding: “We haven’t practised a field goal from a 20-metre restart like that.
“The experienced players got their hands on the ball … they got him in the right position.”
Fresh off a three-week suspension, Marata Niukore burst onto a Wayde Egan short ball in the third minute, scoring near the posts to give the Warriors a 6-0 lead.
While it appeared the Warriors had simply picked up where they left off last weekend when they thumped the Sharks, the Raiders had other ideas.
Strong defence forced a number of errors from the Warriors, including Shaun Johnson throwing an errant pass to Niukore that hit the deck and was pounced on by Hudson Young, who ran 40 metres untouched to level the scores.
Tight defence turned the game into an arm wrestle, with Johnson opting to take the two points on offer when the Raiders infringed after half an hour.
Canberra were left to rue a missed opportunity before fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad scored to give the Warriors a 14-6 lead at the break.
After a weight of Warriors’ possession early in the second half, Johnson combined with Rocco Berry to put Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in the corner.
Jordan Rapana hit back for Canberra in the 63rd minute, climbing beautifully over Marcelo Montoya to claim a Fogarty cross-field bomb and draw the Raiders within two converted tries.
The Warriors defence, which had previously given up 34 missed tackles, looked to have tightened up before Canberra’s late flurry.
“The lesson is we can’t relieve pressure, we have to put the foot on the throat,” Webster said.
“They’re a good enough team to put you under the cosh, and (they) came up with a couple of really good tries.”
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said despite the loss “it was the greatest example of why I love coaching this footy team”.
“They’re tough, there’s no give up in them,” he said.
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