Warriors cruise to second on NRL ladder as Khan-Pereira doubles against old club

The New Zealand Warriors have moved to second on the NRL ladder after a dominant 28-20 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Go Media Stadium in Auckland on Saturday, with new wing Alofiana Khan-Pereira delivering a pointed reminder to his former employers with a try double in the first half.

Khan-Pereira, who joined the Warriors over the off-season after spending several seasons in Queensland, opened the scoring in the fifth minute and crossed again in the 22nd, both times diving spectacularly in the left corner. His second try followed a perfectly weighted flicked pass from five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita, who then added a try of his own to make it three Warriors tries in quick succession. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak completed the first-half blitz, crossing in the opposite corner with his trademark dive, and the Warriors jogged to the sheds at halftime leading 22-0.

It was a commanding performance by any measure. The Warriors completed 22 of 23 sets in that opening 40 minutes, a 95-percent completion rate that suffocated any Titans attack before it could develop. The visitors could not get out of their own end long enough to threaten, and Andrew Webster’s side looked capable of winning by any margin they chose.

The contest briefly appeared to be over when Erin Clark crossed for the Warriors’ fifth try early in the second half, stretching the lead out to 28-4 and leaving Gold Coast with an enormous deficit to bridge with barely half an hour remaining. But the Titans, to their credit, refused to fold.

It was Gold Coast’s Jojo Fifita who had first dragged the Titans off the canvas with an unconverted try before Clark’s score, reducing the deficit to 22-4. Then, in the final 20 minutes, the visitors found real momentum. Sialetili Faeamani scored in the 68th minute to make it 28-10, Arama Hau crossed four minutes later, and Kurtis Morrin barged over just inside the final two minutes to set up a frantic finish. Two conversions from those three late tries gave Gold Coast 16 points in the closing stages, and the Warriors’ lead had shrunk from 24 to eight with time almost up.

The Warriors held on, but it was an uncomfortable conclusion after such a composed start. Webster’s men had been guilty of easing off the throttle when they were 28-4 ahead, allowing the Titans to build confidence and combinations that had not been there an hour earlier. The final scoreline of 28-20 reflected a closer contest in the second half than the first 40 minutes had suggested was possible.

Prop Jackson Ford was the standout individual performer, charging for 226 metres across the 80 minutes while also completing 48 tackles in a tireless display that earned him widespread recognition as one of the form forwards in the competition. Ford has been among the leading Dally M medal contenders this season and another exhibition like this will only strengthen that case.

Co-captain Mitch Barnett made a welcome return to the side after missing several weeks with a broken thumb, adding experience and physicality to a forward pack that has grown in confidence with each passing round. Veteran loose forward Kurt Capewell also returned from a calf injury, logging 66 minutes and offering the kind of steady professionalism the Warriors have at times lacked in tight second halves.

For Khan-Pereira, the afternoon will hold a special significance. He was a fixture on the Titans’ wing for years before making the move across the Tasman to join the Warriors’ rebuild project, and scoring twice against Gold Coast in his home debut against them was the kind of statement that sets the tone for the rest of a career. The 95-percent completion rate and the relentless pressure the Warriors applied in that first half was a collective achievement, but Khan-Pereira’s individual impact in the opening stages gave the home side an early foothold that the Titans never recovered from.

The match was also played as the Zae Wallace Shield clash, a trophy contested between the two clubs in honour of former Titans player Zae Wallace, who passed away in 2020. The Warriors retained the shield with the victory.

With the result, the Warriors climb to second on the NRL ladder, sitting two competition points behind the Penrith Panthers. It is a position that would have seemed almost implausible to supporters accustomed to watching the club spend years mired in the bottom half of the table, but this year’s side have been quietly and methodically dismantling the arguments of the doubters. Last week’s emphatic 38-14 win over the Melbourne Storm ended a 12-year hoodoo against the club from AAMI Park, and back-to-back wins at home have cemented the sense that the Warriors are genuine top-four contenders rather than early-season flatterers.

The challenge now is to sustain that level over the coming weeks. Webster has built a side with depth across the park, but the second-half capitulation against the Titans was a reminder that concentration for a full 80 minutes remains the standard the Warriors need to consistently meet if they are to be considered genuine premiership threats. On Saturday, they had enough in reserve to see out the win. Against stronger opposition, a 28-4 lead becoming 28-20 would leave no room for error.

The Warriors face a short turnaround before their next assignment, with attention now turning to how they can tighten their second-half defensive structures and maintain the high completion rates that made the first 40 minutes so effective. If they can iron out those second-half lapses, there is every reason to think this side will remain in the top four conversation deep into the season.

What did you make of the Warriors’ performance on Saturday? Was the second-half wobble a concern, or does the result speak for itself? Let us know in the comments below.