NRL: Ben Hunt blunder sees Warriors break through
A Ben Hunt blunder under the high ball has cost St George Illawarra, with the Warriors breaking a four-game NRL losing streak in a come-from-behind 26-18 win at Suncorp Stadium.
Hunt revived memories of his 2015 grand final bungle when he spilled a Patrick Herbert dropout and Ken Maumalo crossed for the match winner the next set.
While ex-Bronco Hunt was the villain, playing in front of his former home crowd as part of Magic Round, Warriors skipper Tuivasa-Sheck was the hero, orchestrating his side’s final two tries.
The Warriors were forced to fight back from an early 10-0 deficit and scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to kick-start their season.
Leading 18-6 at halftime, the Dragons looked liked they could run away with it but Stephen Kearney’s side stayed in the mix when they reduced the deficit to six points via Peta Hiku.
Tuivasa-Sheck produced a piece of brilliance when he over-called playmaker Blake Green, ran down the short side on the last tackle and threw a cut-out pass for Herbert who batted it on to David Fusitua to lock up the scores.
The No.1 was again instrumental in Maumalo’s game-winning four-pointer.
Hunt attempted to rush up on the reigning Dally M winner, who tipped it on to his outside men to create an overlap for the No.5 to score.
With Kodi Nikorima making his Warriors debut – a week after being granted a mid-season release from Brisbane – the Warriors were fielding their fifth halves combination of the year.
He largely took a back seat to Tuivasa-Sheck and Green but showed his class to set up Hiku’s try which put the icing on the cake for the Auckland outfit.
Storm’s Scot suffers foot injury
In a rollercoaster NRL return, Curtis Scott has starred in Melbourne’s 64-10 Magic Round romp over Parramatta before ending the match with a suspected broken foot.
There was no shortage of highlights in Saturday night’s 11-tries-to-two rout at Suncorp Stadium in front of 41,612 fans.
But Scott still stole the show as the Storm went close to eclipsing their biggest win over the Eels – a 64-4 thumping in 2013.
The centre scored a remarkable length-of-the-field try and ran 258m with nine tackle busts in a stunning comeback.
However, Scott ended the match with a foot injury that might sideline him for an extended period.
“He’s pretty shattered in there at the moment – looks like a broken bone in his foot,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
-AAP