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Accusations fly after NZ upset
By Dean Ritchie | September 14, 2008 12:00am
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24344234-5006066,00.html
On-field complaints ... Warriors captain Steve Price said to a Storm player: "You'll break someone's neck. They're choking the s..t out of us.'' / The Daily Telegraph
NZ WARRIORS 18 MELBOURNE STORM 15
NEW Zealand Warriors created history yesterday with a stunning upset victory over minor premiers Melbourne at Olympic Park - but then the on-field tension and aggression spilled over into an ugly post-match slanging match. After an epic 18-15 victory in one of the best games of this season, Warriors players spoke of Melbourne's niggling tackles and then accused the Storm of once again employing grapple-tackle tactics.
Storm captain Cameron Smith fired back by labelling the Warriors "whingers''. Throughout the first half, New Zealand players complained bitterly to referee Jason Robinson about the Storm's tackling, with Warriors captain Steve Price saying to a Storm player: "You'll break someone's neck. They're choking the s..t out of us.''
Warriors hooker Ian Henderson also said to Robinson: "That was a 'crusher' tackle.'' Price added: ''They're doing it all the time.''
After the game, which sent New Zealand into week two of the finals and ended Canberra's season, Henderson and Price spoke publicly about Melbourne's tactics.
A fired-up Henderson said: "We just weren't going to put up with any s..t with the niggling stuff and the grapple tackle. They pushed my head (after a dropped ball) and I wasn't going to put up with that either.
"We weren't going to be bullied and pushed around. We're happy to play fair but we weren't going to take a backward step.''
Price added: "It was nothing different. A lot of referees know those things aren't right. I got some tackles that I thought weren't right. I asked the ref to take a look and he did.''
Smith claimed the Warriors benefited from a Robinson decision each time they made an on-field complaint. "It seemed each time they had a whinge, they got a penalty,'' Smith said.
It was a cracking match full of toughness, skill and semi-final intensity. No one gave the Warriors a chance - not surprisingly against a Storm side odds-on to claim the premiership.
The scores were locked 8-8 at halftime yesterday but the Storm lost a lot of go-forward when prop Jeff Lima (cork) came from the field injured and did not return.
Giant Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei crashed over in the 45th minute to give the Warriors a 14-8 lead before Melbourne edged back and then took the lead 15-14 with 12 minutes remaining, through a 35-metre Greg Inglis field goal.
But New Zealand refused to surrender. With just two minutes remaining, the Warriors centre Jerome Ropati slipped a lovely ball to send Vatuvei away down the left flank.
Vatuvei bumped past three defenders before sending a great pass inside to Warriors five-eighth Michael Witt, who charged over out wide to score.
Witt held the ball up in celebration before he touched down, with his coach Ivan Cleary saying: "I thought it must have been pulled up. I won't encourage him to do that again.''
Price said proudly: "We're the first team to win from eighth. We have made history. We showed a lot of character and self-belief.''
Robinson blew 21 penalties yesterday, ensuring a stop-start game which did not allow Melbourne to slip into their regular groove. Storm coach Craig Bellamy said his side would now be forced to endure a tough road home to secure successive titles.
"If I was a punter, I wouldn't put money on us after that performance,'' he said. Smith was critical of his side's effort and told them so after fulltime. "I told everyone to go home and have a good look in the mirror and see if that performance was up to our standard and whether it was good enough for us to go all the way,'' Smith said.
By Dean Ritchie | September 14, 2008 12:00am
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24344234-5006066,00.html
![0,,6250503,00.jpg](http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,6250503,00.jpg)
On-field complaints ... Warriors captain Steve Price said to a Storm player: "You'll break someone's neck. They're choking the s..t out of us.'' / The Daily Telegraph
NZ WARRIORS 18 MELBOURNE STORM 15
NEW Zealand Warriors created history yesterday with a stunning upset victory over minor premiers Melbourne at Olympic Park - but then the on-field tension and aggression spilled over into an ugly post-match slanging match. After an epic 18-15 victory in one of the best games of this season, Warriors players spoke of Melbourne's niggling tackles and then accused the Storm of once again employing grapple-tackle tactics.
Storm captain Cameron Smith fired back by labelling the Warriors "whingers''. Throughout the first half, New Zealand players complained bitterly to referee Jason Robinson about the Storm's tackling, with Warriors captain Steve Price saying to a Storm player: "You'll break someone's neck. They're choking the s..t out of us.''
Warriors hooker Ian Henderson also said to Robinson: "That was a 'crusher' tackle.'' Price added: ''They're doing it all the time.''
After the game, which sent New Zealand into week two of the finals and ended Canberra's season, Henderson and Price spoke publicly about Melbourne's tactics.
A fired-up Henderson said: "We just weren't going to put up with any s..t with the niggling stuff and the grapple tackle. They pushed my head (after a dropped ball) and I wasn't going to put up with that either.
"We weren't going to be bullied and pushed around. We're happy to play fair but we weren't going to take a backward step.''
Price added: "It was nothing different. A lot of referees know those things aren't right. I got some tackles that I thought weren't right. I asked the ref to take a look and he did.''
Smith claimed the Warriors benefited from a Robinson decision each time they made an on-field complaint. "It seemed each time they had a whinge, they got a penalty,'' Smith said.
It was a cracking match full of toughness, skill and semi-final intensity. No one gave the Warriors a chance - not surprisingly against a Storm side odds-on to claim the premiership.
The scores were locked 8-8 at halftime yesterday but the Storm lost a lot of go-forward when prop Jeff Lima (cork) came from the field injured and did not return.
Giant Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei crashed over in the 45th minute to give the Warriors a 14-8 lead before Melbourne edged back and then took the lead 15-14 with 12 minutes remaining, through a 35-metre Greg Inglis field goal.
But New Zealand refused to surrender. With just two minutes remaining, the Warriors centre Jerome Ropati slipped a lovely ball to send Vatuvei away down the left flank.
Vatuvei bumped past three defenders before sending a great pass inside to Warriors five-eighth Michael Witt, who charged over out wide to score.
Witt held the ball up in celebration before he touched down, with his coach Ivan Cleary saying: "I thought it must have been pulled up. I won't encourage him to do that again.''
Price said proudly: "We're the first team to win from eighth. We have made history. We showed a lot of character and self-belief.''
Robinson blew 21 penalties yesterday, ensuring a stop-start game which did not allow Melbourne to slip into their regular groove. Storm coach Craig Bellamy said his side would now be forced to endure a tough road home to secure successive titles.
"If I was a punter, I wouldn't put money on us after that performance,'' he said. Smith was critical of his side's effort and told them so after fulltime. "I told everyone to go home and have a good look in the mirror and see if that performance was up to our standard and whether it was good enough for us to go all the way,'' Smith said.