Giant Manu Vatuvei led a dominant left edge display as the Warriors marked their first home NRL match of the season with a 29-16 win over Parramatta.
Four of the Warriors' five tries on Saturday came down the left, with rookie centre Solomone Kata getting a double, and Vatuvei and second-rower Ryan Hoffman adding one each.
"We just call ourselves `the left side, strong side'," said Vatuvei, the club's record try-scorer with 137.
"There's always that competition between the left side and the right side.
"We're just happy we're doing our job and we're scoring the tries and that's what counts."
Four touchdowns in 17 first-half minutes - to Hoffman, Kata, another rookie centre in Tuimoala Lolohea and Vatuvei - set up the victory in front of 14,112 fans at Mt Smart Stadium.
Hoffman's effort in the fifth minute was his third in as many games for his new club.
When Kata got his second early in the second half, the Warriors, up 28-0, had to withstand a spirited Parramatta comeback.
With the home side reshuffling their backline after fullback Sam Tomkins went off with a knee injury, the visitors scored twice in quick succession through centre Brad Takairangi and prop David Gower.
The Eels gave themselves further hope when winger Reece Robinson dotted down in the corner.
But halfback Shaun Johnson sealed the Warriors' second success of the year with a field goal five minutes from time.
Coach Andrew McFadden said it was wait and see as to the seriousness of the injury to Tomkins, who will undergo a scan.
He admitted his side probably didn't handle the changes as well as they could have after the England Test star went off.
"We got the wobbles a little bit, but a bit of that is credit to the opposition," he said.
"Certainly I'm happy with the way we finished it out."
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur pointed to the first quarter as the deciding passage of the game.
"We removed ourselves from being a chance at 22-0 after 20 minutes," he said.
"In the second half, when we completed and went set for set, we showed what we should have been doing in the first half."
Arthur blamed indiscipline - the Warriors had several early penalties - for the slow start.
"When you don't have the ball, it's hard to keep fronting up, fronting up and tackling," he said.
"Then when you get the ball back, the energy is bit zapped and it's very hard to carry and dominate the play-the-ball.
"It's a vicious circle, but we have no-one to blame but ourselves."
Share
