Warriors 36 Bulldogs 16
A FIRED-UP Ben Roberts staked his claim for the No.6 New Zealand jersey in next month's Centenary Test with an impressive performance against the Warriors yesterday, but after the Bulldogs' loss he still wasn't sure if he was back in favour with selectors.
Confronted by pre-match revelations that new Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney was considering injured Warriors centre Jerome Ropati as a shock selection at five-eighth in the May 9 Test at the SCG, Roberts insisted he was just focused on the Bulldogs' premiership campaign.
But he has made no secret that he covets the five-eighth role for the Kiwis and after failing to get the Dogs over the line in Auckland, he said nothing had changed.
"I'd be happy to play at No 6 in the May 9 Test but then again I would be happy to play in any Kiwis jersey," he said.
"I have to take it one thing at a time and my main goal is to try and get the Dogs back on track and back winning."
Slumped over in the dressing room and nursing an icepack on one shoulder and another on his knee, the young Bulldog was not in the mood to discuss the game, let alone next month's Test.
"To be honest, I wasn't too happy with my performance.
"I could have maybe done things a lot better and I'm pretty disappointed."
The mood was predictably more upbeat in the home dressing room, where a scrawled whiteboard message showed just how relieved the Warriors were with last weekend's win over the Knights.
"Congratulations, boys. Nice work," it read.
"Teams who feel great about themselves get great results!
"Bring on the Dogs!"
A message - it would seem - to fire the boys up and if yesterday's performance was anything to go by, it did the trick.
Warriors hooker Nathan Fien, the Australian at the centre of the 2006 Grannygate fiasco, played like a man possessed at Mt Smart Stadium - and for good reason.
After officially qualifying to play for the Kiwis at the end of last season, the former Maroons hooker was overlooked for October's Test against Australia and the tour of Britain and France to avoid a "PR embarrassment".
Under then New Zealand coach Gary Kemble, Fien was included in the Kiwis train-on squad but was considered surplus to requirements when the touring party was announced.
Given the Kiwis had just one specialist hooker in the UK, Fien may have been a useful addition but yesterday wasn't dwelling on the lost chance.
"It's in the past. I didn't get picked for the Kiwis last year but there's nothing I can do about it now," he said.
"I've got no hard feelings about it.
"As I've said before, I really am just concentrating on doing well for the Warriors and if it turns out I get to play for the Kiwis again, I will definitely put my hand up and wear the colours proudly."
Given that Fien is now a red-hot favourite to to pull on the silver fern next time for the first time since 2006, it was probably smart that he didn't blast the NZRL for his omission.
Several others also did their representative chances no harm yesterday. With Queensland coach Mal Meninga on hand to watch rival centres Brent Tate and Willie Tonga and Warriors back-rower Micheal Luck, the hosts scored in just the second minute when much-maligned halfback Grant Rovelli chipped the ball nicely into the waiting arms of Patrick Ah Van for their first try.
The Warriors' second-most vilified player, Manu Vatuvei, threw himself into the action next and by the 10-minute mark, the hosts led 10-0.
But a 20th-minute Luke Patten try after a Sonny Bill Williams offload - sparked the Bulldogs into action, and late in the half Roberts was showed his attacking potency with a shifty run through the wilting defence to score under the posts.
After failing to penetrate their opponents' try line despite a glut of possession, the Bulldogs were left reeling when Vatuvei recaptured the lead for his side in the 58th minute and the Warriors piled on three more tries.
"We had a lot of pill at the start of the second half but we just couldn't crack them," Williams said. "To the Warriors' credit, they came back and they finished us off."
NZ WARRIORS 36 (M Vatuvei 2 P Ah Van S Fai L Hohaia R Wiki tries M Witt 6 goals) bt BULLDOGS 16 (H Nanai L Patten B Roberts tries H El Masri 2 goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: B Cummins. Crowd: 15,952.
