NRL: Warriors’ season all but over courtesy of poor kicking

The New Zealand Warriors lost to the Canberra Raiders 20-18 on Friday night in the NRL, despite scoring four tries to three in the Round 20 clash at GIO Stadium.

Losing all but ends the Warriors season, with the side down in 12th place on the ladder and just six matches remaining.

The Raiders raced out to a fast start, scoring two converted tries and a penalty inside the first quarter.

However, a strong Warriors comeback seemed to have done enough, but poor kicking from Chanel Harris-Tavita meant the Kiwi side fell two points short.

Crucially, Harris-Tavita shanked a conversion only minutes from full-time, from just 10 metres to the left of the posts.

Warriors not helping themselves

“It’s just disappointing where we’re at, at the moment,” said captain Mitchell Barnett after the match.

“We’re just finding ways to hurt ourselves.

“I led the way there tonight. I was disappointed with a couple of crucial errors – one for a try and one coming out of our own end.

“We fought to the end, but we just let ourselves down with errors.”

Barnett was one of the Warriors’ stars, with the second-rower backing up from State of Origin on Wednesday night to captain his club and score a try.

Raiders give themselves a chance

While NRL bookmakers are now paying $81 for the Warriors to win this season and $4.50 for them to make the finals, Canberra’s hopes are improving.

The victory pushed them into 10th place on the table, with eight wins and nine losses.

NRL bookmakers are hesitant to back the club’s post-season chances, however.

The Raiders still pay a long $8 to make the top eight and $201 to win overall.

Five of Canberra’s seven remaining matches are against current top eight sides, making their run to the finals as tough as it gets.

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