Warriors back in NRL top four after denying brave Dragons

Darren Walton, AAP • August 15th, 2025 10:29 pm

A second-half Adam Pompey double has earned the Warriors a hard-fought win over the Dragons | Photo: Brett Phibbs/AAP

The NZ Warriors have regained their place in the NRL's top four with a thrilling 14-10 comeback victory over a luckless and brave St George Illawarra outfit in Auckland.

The Warriors recovered from a 10-point first-half deficit to snap an alarming three-game losing streak after the Dragons lost three forwards before the break in freakish scenes at GO Media Stadium.

The Dragons had to activate 18th man Tyrell Sloan after back-rowers Hamish Stewart and Jack De Belin fell victim to some friendly fire, both ruled out with a category-one concussion after clashing heads trying to bring down Warriors enforcer James Fisher-Harris.

Jack De Belin failed to finish the match in Auckland, his 250th in the NRL | Photo: Brett Phibbs/AAP

Then interchange forward Hame Sele also failed a HIA following a 29th-minute head knock.

Despite the setbacks, the Dragons enjoyed a 10-0 lead following an early tryscoring double from powerhouse centre Mathew Feagai.

A four-pointer six minutes before the break to Chanel Harris-Tavita, after a skilful sideline offload from Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, put the Warriors back in the contest.

The Dragons overcame their reduced forward rotation to hold the Warriors at bay for much of the second half before the home team finally drew level at 10-10 with a 62nd-minute try to centre Adam Pompey.

Pompey's second shortly after, when St George Illawarra's short-side defence fell for a clever dummy-half dummy from Taine Tuaupiki, gave the Warriors the lead for the first time with six minutes remaining.

Individual brilliance from Leka and RTS set up Chanel Harris-Tavita | Warriors Live on Sport Nation

Coming off back-to-back wins over finals-bound Cronulla and Canberra, the Dragons had the chance to steal the match at the death and claim another big scalp but weren't able to cash in on a Sloan line break.

Friday night's victory vaulted the Warriors above Penrith into fourth spot on the ladder after the New Zealanders' season threatened to unravel.

The injury-hit Warriors could have slumped to as low as seventh by the end of the round.

Instead Andrew Webster's side extinguished the Dragons' slim finals hopes.

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