Stacey hits post as Warriors draw

An agonising field goal miss by Stacey Jones and a video referee's call has left the New Zealand Warriors with a gritty 14-14 National Rugby League (NRL) draw with the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne.

A week after kicking the matchwinning field goal against the Roosters, Jones had the chance to repeat tonight, two minutes into golden point extra time, but his attempt from 15m out hit the left upright and flew into Storm hands.

Then, with 21 seconds left in the 10-minute extra time period, fullback Lance Hohaia slotted a field goal but video referee Tim Mander ruled Jones had knocked on after on-field ref Tony Archer was unsighted.

It left the Warriors to rue a win that got away, but still a gutsy second half comeback from 6-14 down as they finished strongly to claim a valuable competition point. A brave defensive effort was epitomised by forward Micheal Luck's remarkable 72 tackles.

Jones and Storm halfback Cooper Cronk each had three field goal attempts to try and break the deadlock, with Jones' poster from clearly the handiest position.

It was another epic between the two sides, three tries apiece with Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei bagging a double. The Warriors had won the previous two clashes by a combined five points.

The Warriors arrived in Melbourne confident of an upset after the comeback win against the Roosters and a good recent record at Olympic Park including a dramatic 18-15 in week one of last year's playoffs.

Coach Ivan Cleary promoted prop Jesse Royal to the starting 13 for the first time but decided not to risk fullback Wade McKinnon (hamstring), with Hohaia a solid replacement.

The match kicked off in steady rain after both sides marked Anzac Day with the raising of the New Zealand and Australian flags, before the national anthems and Last Post were played.

The Warriors led 2-0 inside the first five minutes as they earned back-to-back sets in Storm territory before captain Steve Price opted for Denan Kemp to goal a handy penalty.

From there the hosts, led by a bustling start by Kiwis prop Adam Blair, dominated much of the first half and the Warriors would have been happy at just 6-10 down at the break.

The Storm scored twice in the first quarter as Cronk became heavily involved.

His chip kick caught Vatuvei flat-footed and gave his opposite Steve Turner an easy try, then their new recruit from Parramatta Brett Finch - who debuted after not being originally named - laid on a ball for flying fullback Billy Slater to slide over.

Several Warriors handling errors with the slippery ball threatened to hand the Storm control but the visitors recovered and got back within four points when Vatuvei charged over out wide from a Jerome Ropati short ball.

Two desperate trysaving tackles from Jones (on winger Anthony Quinn) and Jacob Lillyman (on prop Brett White) kept the Warriors in touch at the break.

Jones' tackle left him pinned under a heavily concussed Quinn who took an accidental knee to the head. Play was held up for nearly 10 minutes as medical staff from both teams treated Quinn before he was stretchered off into an ambulance.

The Storm struck the crucial blow two minutes after halftime when Lance Hohaia was tackled heavily in taking a bomb, and centre Will Chambers scored from an overlap.

The Warriors scrambled well on defence to frustrate the Storm, then Vatuvei injected himself with telling effect.

He looked try-bound before being cut down by a Slater tackle, then two minutes later he bulldozed over in a simple one-on-one with the much smaller Turner to narrow the gap to 10-14.

The visitors sensed an upset and lifted their game as Slater was twice trapped in his own in-goal area.

Then Nathan Fien and Price combined for a clever run-around to set Patrick Ah Van away on the overlap. Kemp's attempt at goal was wide, leaving the scores level with 15 minutes left.

-NZPA