Stats the spirit: Running the Round 4 numbers 📊📉
The beads on the abacus painted a less flattering picture than we're used to in the Warriors' 18-point loss to Wests Tigers.
A 2024 throwback to blowing early leads
Scramble lacking in missed tackle-a-thon
JFH maintains high standards
Boyd grabs a Dally M vote
Winningest Warrior ever slips back into three-way tie
Warriors chase fourth straight win in the Shire
The Warriors’ second-longest winning streak against any club was halted in emphatic fashion on Friday night as Wests Tigers halted a nine-match slide in the rivalry, earning a superb 34-14 victory.
The Warriors led 10-0 early and seemed certain to carve out a fourth straight dominant win. But an untimely sin bin halted their momentum and three tries late in the first half gave the Tigers a 16-10 halftime lead, before the visitors scored three tries to one in the second half.
Despite the setback, the Warriors remain second on the NRL ladder and have won at least three of their first four games for just the sixth time in 32 seasons – and for the third time in four years under Andrew Webster.
An unwelcome throwback
The Warriors channelled the ghosts of 2024 as they raced to an early 10-0 lead before capitulating to the Tigers.
That season, the Warriors had a poor 4-4 record in games where they scored the first two tries. They blew double-digit leads against the Sharks, Titans, Storm and Bulldogs – all at Mount Smart Stadium.
They bucked the trend in a much more successful 2025 campaign, going 5-1 in games where they scored the first two tries (the Titans again tipped them up at home after falling behind 10-0 after eight minutes).
But Friday’s loss was a jarring return to strong early platforms going to waste.
