The Warriors overcame a furious Penrith comeback to get one over former coach Ivan Cleary with a 30-16 NRL win in atrocious conditions at CUA Stadium on Monday night.
On the back of a precise kicking game from young halfback Shaun Johnson, the Warriors moved to within two points of the top eight despite relinquishing an early 12-0 lead courtesy of a Manu Vatuvei double to trail 16-12 at halftime.
The Warriors went unpunished for a pair of early errors but the visitors were nowhere near as generous in return, with Vatuvei grabbing his first when Lachlan Coote dropped a bomb he should have cleaned up.
Lucky to profit from his first kick, Johnson’s second effort was all precision as he laid on a grubber for his big winger – the Warriors flying at 12-0 after 17 minutes in conditions that must have felt just like home.
A third beckoned when the game turned on a piece of Josh Mansour courage – his 85-metre intercept sparking a Panthers avalanche that yielded 16 points in just eight minutes with Kevin Kingston and Geoff Daniela crossing to give the home side a scarcely-believable halftime lead.
As Johnson continued tormenting Etu Uaisele with deft kicks for the corner, Vatuvei denied what seemed a legitimate hat-trick when video referee Phil Cooley somehow ruled the Warriors winger had knocked on in his attempt to ground the ball – the decision baffling even the most ardent Panthers fan.
“I can’t work it out,” former Penrith great Greg Alexander said in his role as commentator for Fox Sports.
It didn’t prove too costly with Konrad Hurrell scoring five minutes later, the Panthers losing the ball on their own 30-metre line after halfback Luke Walsh had ill-advisedly decided to run the ball on the last tackle.
Any hope the 5778 fans who braved the conditions might have had of cheering on a win were extinguished 15 minutes from time, James Maloney reaching out to touch down to push the margin beyond a converted try before Kevin Locke crossed on the fulltime bell.