The Warriors beat the Penrith Panthers 28 to 12 at Go Media Stadium on Friday night, beating the competition leaders at home for the first time in seven years and lifting the Auckland side into the thick of the race for the minor premiership.
Halfback Luke Metcalf was the difference. He scored two tries and kicked four goals for a personal haul of 16 points in a performance that RNZ described as a comeback in every sense. Metcalf had not started at halfback since he signed a three year deal with St George Illawarra, and he was only in the side at all because Te Maire Martin pulled out a day before kick-off with a hamstring strain picked up at training.
The Warriors were in front inside the opening quarter through Erin Clark, then Metcalf backed up a Kurt Capewell run to score the second. Chanel Harris-Tavita added a third before the break and the home side went to the sheds leading 18 to nil, a scoreline almost nobody had picked against a Penrith team that arrived in Auckland on top of the ladder with 36 competition points.
The Warriors extended the lead in the 48th minute when Dallin Watene-Zelezniak tapped back a Metcalf kick and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad finished under the posts to make it 22 to nil. Penrith finally got on the board through Jaxen Edgar in the 67th minute and Nathan Cleary crossed as the visitors mounted a late push, but Metcalf’s second try in the closing minutes ended any chance of the sort of finish Penrith have made a habit of over the past five seasons.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster singled out his playmakers afterwards. “I’m just rapt with all our halves,” he said, according to ESPN. “I’m really proud of the boys tonight.”
The night was far more expensive for Penrith. Co-captain Isaah Yeo left the field after about half an hour holding his chest with what appeared to be a pectoral injury, the kind of problem that often ends a season. Panthers coach Ivan Cleary was blunt when asked about it. “It doesn’t look great,” he said. “Obviously Yeoy’s a big loss and hard to replace, but that’s how it goes, if that’s the case, we’ll have to.”
Penrith also lost centre Paul Alamoti to the sin bin for up-ending Leka Halasima, an incident that may yet draw a charge. Halasima was among the Warriors’ best on the night with a try assist, more than 240 running metres and a dozen tackle busts.
Metcalf’s role in the win carries a particular edge. The Warriors confirmed in May that he had signed with the Dragons from 2027, and he has spent much of the year outside the starting side. Friday was only his third appearance of the season. He answered the obvious questions about match fitness by playing 80 minutes, making 15 tackles and racking up more than 500 kicking metres, which is the statistic that best explains why Penrith spent so much of the night defending inside their own half.
That was more or less the plan Webster had laid out earlier in the week. Speaking to Sport Nation before the game, he argued that shutting down Nathan Cleary is a forward pack job rather than a defensive assignment on the halfback himself. “Like every great halfback, when things aren’t going well they can still play off the back foot. But even the great halfbacks want momentum,” Webster said. “Our best chance of shutting him down is making sure we put them under pressure so he’s got less opportunities to play.”
He also warned against building the whole week around one opponent. “If we’re focused all week on everything he can do rather than focusing on what we can do, we’re going into the game with the wrong mindset,” Webster said.
The result is the first time the Warriors have beaten Penrith at home since June 2019, a drought that ran through the Panthers’ most dominant years. It also squares the ledger for 2026 after Penrith won a round 13 thriller in Sydney by 20 points to 18.
The two competition points move the Warriors to 34 from 20 games and, more importantly, guarantee them a place in the finals with several rounds still to play. Penrith stay on top with 36 points but now share that mark with the Sydney Roosters, and with Cronulla on 32 from a game fewer, the top of the table has tightened to the point where home advantage through the finals is genuinely up for grabs. A top two finish would be new territory for a club that has spent most of its history scrapping for the last spot in the eight.
Next up is a trip to Brisbane to play the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, a ground where the Warriors won 42 to 12 in round 11. Webster will have to decide whether Martin’s hamstring, expected to keep him out for two to four weeks, has effectively made his selection for him, or whether a fit Martin comes straight back into a side that has just posted its most convincing win of the year without him. On Friday night’s evidence, that is not the simple decision it looked a week ago.
What did you make of the Warriors’ win over Penrith, and who should wear the number seven jersey for the run home? Leave a comment below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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