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LIVE: Warriors notch second win of NRL season after outclassing Titans 20-8

March 17, 2018
Shaun Johnson.
NRL Premiership. Vodafone Warriors v Gold Coast Titans. Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand. March 17 2018. © Copyright photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.Photosport.nz

Welcome to 1 NEWS NOW's live updates of this afternoon's round 2 NRL clash between the Warriors and Titans at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.

Warriors 20 - 8 Titans

80 mins: The Warriors are two from two and there is plenty to get excited about. The offloads are back and if the decision making can improve in attack, the Warriors will worry a lot of teams. 

76 mins: Don with a quite brilliant try. Hurrell set it up with an out-of-character kick. Gordon converts, just.

72 mins: Johnson can't convert. 

70 mins: Fus! The big winger climbs freakishly high to take a Johnson bomb before dotting down. Unstoppable!

69 mins: Johnson's well-placed grubber earns the Warriors a repeat set.

68 mins: Titans knock on and Maumalo makes some nice metres with a jinking run.

63 mins: Johnson can't convert from out wide. His first miss of the day. 

62 mins: Kata has scored! The Warriors finally convert an opportunity.Nice ball from RTS and the Titans can't stop Kata.

61 mins: Sami has scored for the Titans. The ref has ruled no try and we're going upstairs to check for an obstruction. No try again with Johnson denied a chance. 

59 mins: Elgey earns the Titans a repeat set. Warriors have thrown 27 offloads but some poor decision making means the Titans are still in it. 

56 mins: Another one goes begging for the Warriors. Afoa made a break but RTS knocks on a pass. 

54 mins: Johnson kicks it dead. Warriors guilty of not really taking their chances. 

51 mins: Incredible break after Johnson shows some brilliant hands. Lisone gets closed down. 

49 mins: Plenty of offloads before Johnson puts in a grubber then the Warriors give away a penalty.

47 mins: Hurrell gets held up, Titans with two more tackles. The kick goes dead. Seven-tackle set for the Warriors.

45 mins: Some basic mistakes from both sides to start the second half. Titans in possession and they get a penalty. Nice opportunity on the Warriors' line.

40 mins: That's halftime. The Warriors worked their way into the game nicely, Harris has been particularly impressive on the right edge.

38 mins: Elgey throws a forward pass. Warriors should have a 10-point lead going into the break.

37 mins: Titans get a repeat set. Cartwright rolls a nice grubber into the in-goal and there's no way out for Hiku.

35 mins: Harris makes an error with the play-the-ball. Brings an end to a promising set for the Warriors.

33 mins: The Warriors deny the Titans again. Elgey crumbs a kick and got over the line but Pulu prevented him from getting it down.

32 mins: Fus climbs high to brilliantly defuse a Titans bomb.

28 mins: A cross-field kick from Elgey to Sami comes to nothing. 20m restart for the Warriors.

26 mins: Forward pass to Afoa kills some of the momentum.

25 mins: Titans fullback Gordon cops a big hit from Luke after a nice kick from Johnson.

23 mins: Johnson makes no mistake with the conversion.

22 mins: It looks like it's going to be awarded. A nice shift on the last tackle and RTS burst through a hole off an inside ball from Green. 

22 mins: RTS scores a brilliant try on the last tackle! Awarded a try but we're going upstairs to check on a possible obstruction.

17 mins: Fus crosses for the opening try! Brilliant pass from Harris put Hiku in a whole and he found the flying winger. Johnson slots the conversion from out wide. 

16 mins: The Titans have crossed but did they get the ball down? Hiku has come up with a brilliant play to knock the ball from Titans winger Sami as he tried to ground the ball.

14 mins: RTS makes a break! Gordon makes a try-saving tackle on Fusitu'a, who ends up in touch. 

12 mins: Sao makes an error to gift the Titans possession.

11 mins: A breathtaking Warriors move comes within inches of ending up in a try. Offloads aplenty, end result is the Warriors have  a line dropout through a nice Harris kick. 

9 mins: Elgey looks to have scored! We're going upstairs to look for an obstruction though. Soft no try decision from the refs. NO TRY! Warriors awarded a penalty for obstruction.

8 mins:  Fusitu'a makes an error coming out of his own end. Titans on the attack once again.

7 mins: Already a huge blow for the Warriors, with promising youngster Papali'i hobbling off the field with a knee injury.

6 mins: A promising move from the Warriors inside the Titans' 20m comes to an end when Don intercepts an RTS pass.

5 mins: The Warriors get a penalty of their own. A nice helping hand for them as they come out of their own end.

3 mins: The Warriors concede back-to-back penalties, Titans elect to kick for goal after the second. Gordon makes no mistake. Titans lead!

1 mins: Titans kick off in front of a big Mt Smart crowd. Luke with a darting run before Johnson gets his first kick away.

PRE-GAME

The Warriors have named an unchanged side for their first home match of the 2018 NRL season, taking on the Gold Coast Titans at Mt Smart Stadium today.

Coach Stephen Kearney has kept the faith with the same starting side that defeated the Rabbitohs 32-20 in Perth last week, also retaining the four interchange forwards on an extended bench.

"What we achieved in Perth was certainly pleasing after the players had worked really hard in the pre-season," said Kearney.

"The result there brought a sense of relief and also a sense of confidence in the way the players went about executing the game plan."

"But for us it's now all about this week and preparing well to give us the best chance of performing well on Saturday."

A win against the Titans today would be just the third time in the club's history that the Warriors have opened the season with back-to-back wins.

TEAMS

WAR:  1. Roger Tuivasa-sheck 2. David Fusitua 3. Peta Hiku 4. Solomone Kata 5. Ken Maumalo 6. Blake Green 7. Shaun Johnson 8. James Gavet 9. Issac Luke 10. Adam Blair 11. Isaiah Papalii 12. Tohu Harris 13. Ligi Sao

WAR Interchange (from):  14. Sam Cook 15. Leivaha Pulu 16. Sam Lisone 17. Bunty Afoa 20. Anthony Gelling 21. Agnatius Paasi

GCT:  1. Michael Gordon 2. Anthony Don 3. Dale Copley 4. Konrad Hurrell 5. Phillip Sami 13. Bryce Cartwright 6. Kane Elgey 8. Jai Arrow 9. Nathan Peats 10. Leilani Latu 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Ryan James 17. Morgan Boyle

GCT Interchange (from):  14. Mitch Rein 15. Max King 16. Will Matthews 18. Keegan Hipgrave 19. Joe Greenwood 21. Aj Brimson

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