Add Category
The first NRL final in New Zealand in 15 years does not disappoint. Well, at least as far as the home fans are concerned.
Shaun Johnson returned to ignite his Warriors, although they were helped by a truly shocking start by Newcastle that left the Knights unable to pull off a second straight miracle.
Here are five things you may have missed from Saturday night's second semifinal.
1. Mt Smart rises
In New Zealand, they call Mt Smart Stadium "The Fortress of Faith" and, given what's happened to the Kiwi club since their admission to the league in 1995, it's an apt title.
For all the suffering and all the disappointment foisted upon the fanbase over the years they have never failed to show up for their team when it counted — for proof, look no further than Brent Tate saying the only crowd he ever played in front of who could compare to a Lang Park mob on Origin night was Auckland in a game that counted.
This game counted and New Zealand rose for its team.
In games like this, the crowd can seem like a living thing, a roaring beast that rises and falls and pumps up the volume to try and carry its side home.
They did just that, as the Warriors enjoyed a finals victory at home for just the third time in their history.
Regardless of what happens next week, this was riotous and glorious night that will live in Kiwi rugby league folklore until they say they bring the premiership trophy back across the ditch.
Over the last few months "Up the Wahs" has become a replacement for "hello" and "goodbye" in New Zealand. If they can somehow sneak their way past the Broncos next week, it'll become the national motto.
2. The worst possible start
Jacob Saifiti was almost dragged over the right touchline on the first hit-up off the kick-off.
After avoiding that disaster, the Knights officially dropped their sword on their own foot three plays later when Greg Marzhew dropped a pass on his 30-metre line and the Warriors were straight on the attack.
Five tackles later and Shaun Johnson had set up fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad for the opening try of the match. The game wasn't even two minutes old yet.
The Knights barely touched the ball again in the opening exchanges, not completing a set until the 15th minute, by which point they were already trailing 16-0.
Despite a spirited fightback that threatened to emulate their extra-time win over the Raiders last week, they just left themselves too much to do this time.
3. Walker's on
Sometimes a player can wander through the NRL for years before they find a home, and while Dylan Walker has taken the long journey to New Zealand, he's been an asset every time he's pulled on a Warriors jersey since debuting for the club back in March.
Walker won a premiership with South Sydney in 2014 and enjoyed some fine days with Manly, but the lock forward role at the Warriors has brought out the very best in him this season with his speed, skill and power running making the difference time and again through 2023.
After Newcastle's Dylan Lucas crashed over early in the second half to bring the Knights within a try, the Warriors needed something and it was Walker who provided it.
After a Tohu Harris break, Walker backed up from close to the line to surge over and score, breaking tackles and almost the goalpost to claim one of the most important touchdowns in recent Warriors history.
Walker, for all his talent, has rarely been a perfect player, but at this time and in this game at this moment he was the perfect man for the Warriors.
4. Johnson's lap of honour
Between Sam Kerr, Adam Reynolds, Jahrome Hughes and Shaun Johnson, calf injuries are the injury du jour at the moment. And Johnson's as important to his team as any of those stars are to the Matildas, Broncos or Storm.
Without him in the first week of the finals, the Warriors looked hopeless in attack, albeit against a ridiculously good Panthers side.
But his return to the line-up for the semifinal was immediately impactful, perfectly holding up a pass to send Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad over for a try in the second minute, kickstarting the Warriors's dominance.
But, with the game already decided in the 74th minute, Andrew Webster took the opportunity to give Johnson an early break, likely terrified by the prospect of his influential halfback aggravating his soft tissue injury in garbage time.
Johnson made sure to walk off on the far side of the field, soaking up and reciprocating full-throated applause from the Mt Smart fans as Auckland officially reached party time.
5. A fitting final four
Sometimes everything works out as it should and that's the case with the NRL preliminary finals.
This NRL had a few clear tiers. The top four was clear pretty early on, and the top two looked a step above even in that small class.
So it's only fair that minor premiers Penrith and second-placed Brisbane should be hosting grand final qualifiers against the teams that finished third and fourth.
The Panthers will meet the Storm at Sydney's Olympic stadium in a rematch of the 2020 grand final on the same ground, before the Broncos and Warriors clash at what will surely be 52,000 fans at Lang Park.
The New Zealanders always have vocal support in Brisbane, so it may feel almost like a second straight home final for them as they bid to reach their first grand final since 2011, still chasing that elusive maiden premiership.
Loading