Extra effort almost golden

WARRIORS 32 PANTHERS 32

BY AARON LAWTON

AFTER a season spent lurking in the shadows and failing to live up to the hype, Joel Moon failed standoff and makeshift centre last night stunningly emerged from the shadows to score four tries and help the Warriors to a thrilling 32-32 golden point draw with the Panthers at CUA Stadium in Sydney.

But as much as Moon's heroics deserve to be lauded, this was not a match that should ever have gone to extra time.

Early in the second half, the Warriors led 32-6 and looked to have the game won.

However, in typical, limp, disappointing, some might say woeful fashion, they went to sleep, the floodgates opened and the Panthers ran in four late tries to almost snatch victory from the gaping jaws of defeat.

During golden point, neither side was able to get close to scoring and the draw was probably a fair result.

Today fans, those who haven't already torn their hair out after the horrific season it has been, will be wondering just one thing where has this Warriors side been?

At least, that is, the Warriors side that fronted for the first 50 minutes or so.

Manu "The Beast" Vatuvei was breaking the line. Stacey Jones was kicking accurately and, best of all, Wade McKinnon got angry.

Of course, the usual errors were there and when the Warriors clocked off in the second half it was more like the dribble they've been serving up for most of the season.

Potential. It's a word that was liberally used by all and sundry during the pre-season to describe this Warriors side.

Potential grand finalists. Potential champions. Potentially, came the chatter from the Mad Butcher's lounge at Mt Smart Stadium this was going to be the first "history-making" Warriors side to hoist the silverware.

Naturally, as the season wore on, the chatter turned into whispers and then silence and the only time the word potential is used these days is in the same sentence as the words "wooden" and "spoon".

The spoon, if the last half an hour last night is anything to go by, is a realistic chance while the playoffs aren't.

Fans can only hope now the Warriors are motivated by a desire to give The Little General, who will hang up his boots at the season's end, a fitting send-off.

Six minutes in, some of the more disillusioned Warriors fans would have flicked the channel to Air New Zealand Cup rugby highlights after New South Wales speedster Michael Jennings, who has made a habit of scoring tries this year, did just that.

But the Warriors, with luck on their side, responded six minutes later when Moon, who has had his fair share of critics this season, scored the first of his four tries.

By half time he had three to his name and the Warriors, almost as unbelievably, had a 20-6 lead.

After the break, Moon and the ever-impressive Lewis Brown both scored tries to put the Warriors comfortably in front. But, in typical Warriors fashion, they went to sleep and four tries on the trot to the Panthers, including a marginal one to Frank Puletua, who looked to have been held up, made a loss seem more likely.

A Michael Gordon penalty in the dying minutes set up a thrilling golden point show-down, in which neither side was able to score.

Warriors (J Moon 4, L Brown tries; K Locke 6 gls), Panthers (M Jennings 2, S Elford, L Walsh, F Puletua tries; M Gordon 6 gls).

- © Fairfax NZ News