Junior reps: Warriors teams 0-2 after dual losses to Rabbitohs
The Warriors' Harold Matts and SG Ball sides are in danger of slipping out of finals contention after a winless opening fortnight.
The Warriors have endured another tough Sunday in Round 2 of NSWRL’s junior competitions, with their under-17s and under-19s outfits going down convincingly to their South Sydney counterparts on home soil.
The two-time defending Harold Matthews Cup champs were outscored six tries to three in a 28-16 defeat to the Rabbitohs.
For the second week in a row, hooker Kayce Perese-Sukroo scored the first try of the match - a sneaky dummy-half effort - and the Warriors led 12-4 when second-rower Rilee McGrath Huggins powered over in the 13th minute.
But five unanswered tries put Souths in firm control, until Warriors winger Blake Bruce stemmed the flow of points against the Albert Vete-coached hosts with a 54th-minute four-pointer.
The SG Ball encounter followed an almost identical script as the Rabbitohs ran out 36-12 winners.
Tries in the first 12 minutes to winger Alexander Pua, after a great run from fullback Joseph Ratcliffe and a pinpoint kick from halfback Rico Lemalie, and Ratcliffe himself gave the Warriors an 8-4 advantage, before five Souths tries in the space of 25 minutes took the game away from Shannon Rushworth’s side.
Pua completed a double at the hour mark - with Ratcliffe again prominent - but the Rabbitohs had the last say when Warriors centre Mark Sikuvea was sin-binned and the visitors posted their seventh try of the day.
The Warriors have the bye in both competitions in Round 3, returning on Sunday, March 1 with clashes against the Roosters at Bruce Pulman Park. The club’s NRL, NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg teams all get their 2026 campaigns underway against the Roosters a week later.
2026 HAROLD MATTHEWS CUP ROUND 2 - South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 defeated Warriors 16 (Kayce Perese-Sukroo, Rilee McGrath Huggins, Blake Bruce tries; Keanu Simpson 2 goals) at Bruce Pulman Park, Auckland
2026 SG BALL CUP ROUND 2 - South Sydney Rabbitohs 36 defeated Warriors 12 (Alexander Pua 2, Joseph Ratcliffe tries) at Bruce Pulman Park, Auckland.