ComfortGlaze Warriors Lower Grade Report: Raiders too good in winless weekend
Slow starts from the Warriors in both matches allowed the Green Machine to get the jump.
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The Warriors suffered twin defeats to their Canberra Raiders NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21s) counterparts in Round 17.
The Warriors’ Jersey Flegg side went down 30-22 to fast-starting Canberra Raiders on Saturday.
The Raiders scored the first three tries of the afternoon — all unconverted — before the slick combination of Warriors halfback and captain Jack Thompson, and five-eighth Harry Inch put winger Harry Tauafiafi-Iutoi over for his 17th try of the season in the 29th minute.
The Warriors’ other winger, Brandon Norris, grabbed his 16th try of 2026 in between a pair of Raiders tries.
Warriors front-rower Tepatasi Laumalili completed a double either side of another Raiders four-pointer to five-eighth Braydan Darmody.
The door was well and truly ajar for the visitors at 28-22 when skipper Darmody was binned with seven minutes left, but a subsequent penalty goal gave Canberra breathing space in the latter stages.
Interestingly, a week after starring for Queensland in its Under-19s Origin win, 18-year-old sensation Bishop Neal dropped back to the Warriors’ under-21s side following 10 standout appearances in NSW Cup.
The 7-7 Warriors remain in eighth spot on the Jersey Flegg Cup ladder.
JERSEY FLEGG CUP - ROUND 17: Canberra Raiders 30 defeated Warriors 22 (Harry Tauafiafi-Iutoi, Brandon Norris tries; Harry Inch 3 goals) at Kirkham Oval
The Warriors made it back-to-back heavy losses in NSW Cup, following up last Saturday’s 44-16 defeat to Canterbury-Bankstown in Christchurch with a 34-16 loss to Canberra at GIO Stadium.
After riding the pine during the Warriors’ NRL clash with the Dolphins in Brisbane, Luke Metcalf, Kayliss Fatialofa and reserve Makaia Tafua all flew to the capital to line up in the NSW Cup starting side. Metcalf’s inclusion saw Luke Hanson revert to fullback.
The Raiders raced to an 18-0 lead after 27 minutes as the Warriors struggled to handle Coby Black’s kicking game. Returning winger Haizyn Mellars was outjumped by Kain Anderson for one try.
After a couple of nice touches from Metcalf, Tafua’s grubbing pass from dummy-half saw right winger Daeon Amituanai dive in for the Warriors’ first. He arguably would have had a second soon afterwards if NSW Cup had a Bunker, producing a spectacular finish that was too good for the referee and touch judge to believe was true with the naked eye after nice ball-playing from Jett Cleary.
Metcalf scored the first try after break — backing up a long break by Tafua — for 18-10, but the Raiders regained momentum to post three unanswered tries.
Tafua produced his third try assist of the day with five minutes to go, serving up a lovely pass for promising lock Jacob Auloa to plunge over for a consolation four-pointer.
Metcalf did virtually all of the general play kicking to a reasonable standard, seemed willing to run the footy and created some chances — but it was not enough to suggest Andrew Webster will be making an unforced change to his NRL halves pairing anytime soon.
Fatialofa worked hard for 134 metres on 17 runs but had a couple of unflattering moments in defence, while Auloa made 31 tackles and 12 runs for 101 metres to go with his try.
Taufua coupled his big day in attack with a game-high 40 tackles.
Of great interest to most Warriors fans after a rough day for NRL centres Adam Pompey (who was also put on report) and Ali Leiataua against the Dolphins, along with a hamstring to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak potentially stretching their thin outside-back stocks further, NSW Cup centres Jye Linnane and Sio Kali both ran for a team-high 163 metres and made three line-breaks between them.
The quicksilver Linnane also racked up 23 tackles.
Arguably the most logical straight wing replacement if DWZ is sidelined, NRL top-30 squad member Mellars — who was returning from an eight-week layoff — still looks some way off being ready for a top-grade debut.
The defending NSW Cup champs slipped to 10th on the ladder with a 7-7 record.
NSW CUP - ROUND 17: Canberra Raiders 34 defeated Warriors 16 (Daeon Amituanai, Jacob Auloa tries; Luke Metcalf 2 goals) at GIO Stadium