Chanel Harris-Tavita of the Warriors scores a try. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport
All aboard the bandwagon, the Warriors are back.
A week on from their humiliating defeat to the Titans, the Warriors showed the grit which took them within one win of a grand final last season, holding off the Brisbane Broncos 32-16 at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.
With Shaun Johnson sidelined through injury, the new halves combination of Te Maire Martin and Chanel Harris-Tavita ran riot for the Warriors, having a hand in almost every try.
The win sees the Warriors temporarily leap-frog the Knights and the Rabbitohs into 12th in the competition.
It took 11 minutes for the hosts to strike as Te Maire Martin fired a beautiful pass to Channel Harris-Tavita, sliced through a hole.
With three tackle restarts on the trot, the Warriors cashed in on the weight on possession and Martin sneaked his way over from dummy half as the home side surged out to a 12-0 lead.
The Warriors enjoyed all the early territory and 70 per cent possession, with the Broncos barely completing a set in the first half hour.
Harris-Tavita bagged a second off the back of a deft kick from Martin as the halves again combined to break the Broncos.
The Broncos finally managed to pull one back with less than 10 until the break, with Deine Mariner getting over in the corner from a pinpoint cross kick.
Jazz Tevaga gets some heavy attention. Photo: Photosport
Harris-Tavita looked to have got over for a hat-trick right on the brink of half-time, breaking some feeble Broncos defence, only for the bunker to scrub it due to obstruction, leaving the Warriors with a 16-6 lead heading into the sheds.
A couple of dubious calls let both sides off the hook early in the second, with the visitors squaring the ledger in the possession stakes.
Brisbane appeared to have closed the gap further, but replays showed Selwyn Cobbo had a little toe in touch before grounding the Steeden.
Repeat sets proved too much for the Warriors to repel, with Mariner streaking around Dallin Watene-Zelezniak for his second.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck ensured the margin remained comfortable as Martin lay out on a platform for his centre to rocket onto.
But the Broncos refused to go away, with prop Xavier Willison muscling through some thin defence to keep his side in the hunt.
As was the theme of the evening, just as the Broncos thought they had a sniff, the Warriors struck back almost immediately, Watene-Zelezniak marking his return with a try in the corner.
The nail was driven in shortly after, Freddy Lussick waltzing his way to the chalk to put his side in the 30s.
Scorers
Warriors 32 (Harris-Tavita 2, Martin, Tuivasa-Sheck, Watene-Zelezniak, Lussick tries; Pompey 3 goals, Martin 1 goal)
Broncos 16 (Marnier 2 tries; Staggs 2 goals)
