The New Zealand Warriors have earned their second win of the season with an entertaining win over the North Queensland Cowboys in Gosford.
It was a score-fest on the Central Coast with 12 combined tries, but the Warriors had enough in reserve to beat the Cowboys 37-26.
A bad night for the Cowboys was made worse, with the North Queensland side left waiting on scans tomorrow on Valentine Holmes, who failed to play out the first half after an injury to his left ankle.
It was the fifth minute of play when Holmes came up grimacing after getting tackled by Warriors prop Jamayne Taunoa-Brown.
Holmes was a spectator for a while as he stayed on, then came to the sidelines to talk to medical staff about his left ankle.
He went back on with his ankle strapped, and even scored his side's first try after 15 minutes, but he was clearly hampered.
The Cowboys full-back struggled on for a little longer but, after 27 minutes, the Cowboys decided enough was enough and Holmes came off.
North Queensland also had to cope with an injury to Jordan McLean that ruled the skipper out after 20 minutes.
The Warriors' kicking game was on track from early on.
In the eighth minute, Blake Green laid on a perfect chip over the Cowboys' defensive line, for Patrick Herbert to race in and touch the ball down on the half-volley.
Holmes answered for the Cowboys, and Kyle Feldt went in for another score just after the opening quarter of the match.
But as both sides struggled to get on top defensively, Warriors second-rower Eliesa Katoa put the New Zealand side ahead again after 25 minutes.
Warriors five-eighth Kodi Nikorima was proving hard to stop, setting up attacks, kicking conversions and adding a field goal that made it 17-12 to his team at the break.
He added to his highlights reel early in the second half, using a volleyball punch to send the ball on to winger Adam Pompey, who gathered and went in for a try in the corner to boost the margin after a try to Justin O'Neill gave North Queensland hope within a minute of the restart.
The teams swapped tries, with Francis Molo's score answered with Peta Hiku's second try of the night on 55 minutes. Hiku —who had gone over five minutes before the break — wrapped up a hat-trick 16 minutes from time.
The Cowboys' defence was unable to keep the Warriors out and Karl Lawton completed his team's seventh try of the game with 10 to go. Kyle Feldt answered for the Cowboys, but it was too little, too late.
The big win from the Warriors' defence was shutting down Cowboys forward Jason Taumalolo, who was not much of a factor.
The Warriors had too much momentum for their opponents, outgaining the Cowboys by nearly 600 metres.
The win puts the Warriors up to 10th place, at least temporarily. The Cowboys were hoping to consolidate a spot in the top eight but they will have to rely on other results to avoid dropping out after this round.
