This week we go back to 2008 where the NZ Warriors faced off against the Sydney City Roosters in Semi Final #1.After becoming the first 8th placed side to defeat the Minor Premiers (Melbourne Storm) in the Qualifying Final, the Warriors would eventually go on to be just 1 game short of their 2nd Grand Final appearance, where they went down in the preliminary final to eventual winners Manly, losing 32-6.
In front of 25,595 fans at Mt Smart Stadium, the NZ Warriors defeated the Roosters 30-13, giving Kiwi legend Ruben Wiki the perfect farewell as he played his last game on NZ soil.
The NZ Warriors got off to a dream start, with a grubber from Michael Witt bouncing off the upright 2 minutes into the game straight into the hands of Lance Hohaia to score under the posts. 2 quick tries to the Roosters, 1 from Mitchell Pearce in the 30th minutes followed by a penalty try being awarded to Anthony Minichiello after being impeded by Lance Hohaia saw the Roosters skip away to a 12-6 lead. With roughly 30 seconds remaining until half-time, Braith Anasta slotted over a field goal to give his side a 13-6 lead at half-time.
Only winning 2 games from 10 attempts while trailing at half-time, the Warriors showed in the 2nd half that statistics don't mean anything and the side came out breathing fire to play arguably their best 40 mins of football for 2008.
With the Warriors applying pressure early in the 2nd half, Lance Hohaia sliced through the Roosters defence on the back of a forced drop out to score right under the posts to get the score back to 13-12. A cross field bomb from Nathan Fien had Aiden Kirk flying through the air and crashing over the line, only to have the video ref rule that the ball had been held up.
In the 56th minute, Ian Henderson showed strength and determination to cross the line under the posts. With the decision going upstairs, the video ref gave the home side the benefit of the doubt and awarded the try.
As the game approached the 1 hour mark, a slick back line move saw The Beast crash over into the corner to help his side extend the lead. With 2 tries next to his name, Hohaia gave the last pass to give himself the try assist and Michael Witt, as cool as you like, nailed the conversion from right on the sideline, kicking it straight over the black dot to give the on fire Warriors side an 11 point lead with 20 minutes to go.
With 7 minutes to go, Aidan "Captain" Kirk, swooped on a poor pass by Anthony Tupou on his own 20m line and sprinted away to score under the posts, sending the Warriors to be 1 game away from playing in their 2nd Grand Final.
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