A dazzling fullback display from Warriors star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck won't change coach Andrew Webster's future planning after his side took care of Newcastle at Mt Smart Stadium.
Putting season-opening losses against Cronulla and Melbourne behind them, the Warriors backed up last weekend’s win over Canberra with a 20-12 triumph on Sunday afternoon to square the ledger at 2-2.
In a heavyweight battle of two Dally M Medal-winning fullbacks, Warriors No.1 Tuivasa-Sheck churned out a whopping 278m to lead his side to the win, although Newcastle skipper Kalyn Ponga landed blows of his own in a dazzling first-half display.
It prompted plenty of questions of Webster, with regular fullback Charze Nicoll-Klokstad due back from a hamstring injury next weekend.
The Warriors mentor says he's sticking with his stated preferred No.1, but he did shower Tuivasa-Sheck with praise for his first hit-out at the back since 2021, before he switched to rugby.
"He was really good and had glimpses of really good stuff," Webster said.
"Rog looked like he'd learned plenty tonight, he feels the NRL is a different beast from when he left it, and he hasn't done a lot of reps at fullback.
"I was proud ... it's such a cool thing to have a guy who's played a lot of fullback in his career, and he's nailing centre now and ... then when you need him, he comes back in and he's reliable."
The only thing souring the loss was a suspected broken leg for five-eighth Luke Metcalf after a brutal low tackle from Newcastle second-rower Tyson Frizell, forcing him from the contest inside 10 minutes.
But it didn’t prevent the Warriors from producing a second straight win, winger Marcelo Montoya hitting the skies to ground a Chanel Harris-Tavita bomb early in the second half for the term’s opening try and to give his side a 12-point buffer.
A 72nd-minute penalty goal from Shaun Johnson put them 14 points clear, although a classy Ponga grubber allowed centre Bradman Best to set up a tight finish.
Ponga had looked to be winning the No.1 battle in the opening 40 minutes with two line breaks and two more line-break assists, and was determined to find his side a lifeline late in the piece.
After his try assist, he put winger Enari Tuala through five minutes from time and might have got the ball back to score, only for Tuivasa-Sheck to come up with a heroic bat-down and save a try.
Two tries in three first-half minutes got the Warriors in the driver's seat, but a cute kick from Tyson Gamble allowed Frizell to get Newcastle on the board late in the first term.
At the scene of a 40-10 hiding from last season's finals campaign, Knights boss Adam O'Brien found plenty to like from an improved performance.
“Every metric that you look at - possession, field position - we had to contend with a fair bit, so I'm pretty content with our attitude,” he said.
“Last time we came here we probably didn't have that and we withstood a very similar first half.
“There's some stuff there we need to get better at, in particular our attack, but that will come, and there's a lot to like about their performance with some personnel out.”
