FULLTIME: WARRIORS 18 - 12 DRAGONS 80mins: There's space for Widdop on the right, gives it to his outside player but he's wrapped up well. Hunt goes high with the kick but Fusitu'a does well to avoid RTS and take it in. Green kicks it into touch and the Dragons have one final play. Nightingale is absolutely DEMOLISHED by Blair and he forces the knock on. Warriors win! 78mins: Dragons put the grubber through but Maumalo does well to gather it in and make sure to get out of the in goal area. Dragons trying to pin them back on defence but instead are penalised. 76mins: Pereira gets a nice inside ball, beats Blair's tackle and races up to halfway before finally being tackled. Dragons try and go quickly at the play of the ball and the Warriors are penalised. 74mins: McInnes links up with Widdop but he slips in the tackle and is hit hard on the way down. Hunt puts the kick up and Tuivasa-Sheck's there to take it into contact. 72mins: Dragons again piling on the pressure but their cross field kick is tapped back the Warriors way by Beale. They're doing enough on defence. 70mins: Dragons looking good to score but the Warriors are just doing enough on defence to keep them out. Ball comes for Widdop but he knocks on with pressure right on him. 68mins: Green puts the ball in the corner for a Dragons set about 15m out from their own try line. Hunt attacks the line, almost goes right through but for a Green high tackle and the Warriors are penalised again. 66mins: Lisone looking lively, keen to get involved. Johnson opts against kicking on the last, puts Blair in half a gap, he offloads to Beale but his grubber is charged by the boot of Widdop and he pounces on the ball. 64mins: Frizell's hit hard by Blair but does well to ride the tackle and keep possession. Widdop looks to attack on the right, but play's called to a stop with Lisone down. He's back up now and we're underway once more. 62mins: Johnson wraps up Dufty as he looked to attack down the left. They go short to Leilua and the Warriors are penalised once again on their own try line. 60mins: Warriors defence getting right in the face of the Dragons, forcing them back. Leilua makes a nice run to get some go-forward ball for the hosts. Dufty's almost put through a hole before Hunt shows the ball. Widdop kicks, RTS knocks on in the hands of Tevaga and the Warriors are penalised for offside. 58mins: Warriors pinged for being offside once again after Maumalo saved the day, knocking the ball down in a Dragons overlap. Dragons go left but the Warriors defence do well to force the forward pass and the turnover. 56mins: Frizell tries spinning out of the tackle of Papalii and is tackled just a metre out. Dufty tries running across field once again but RTS is there to tackle him and the Warriors are penalised for being offside. 54mins: Green and Johnson combine nicely before Kata gets it, looks to bash his way through but loses it a three-man tackle. Hunt's gone clean through! Puts the grubber through for Widdop, instead of passing and RTS beats him to it, forcing it dead. 52mins: Dragons playing with really confidence now as Graham beats the tackle of Tevaga but is stripped by Luke and the Warriors get it back. Johnson puts the grubber through and Widdop's forced to touch down for a drop out. 49mins: DRAGONS TRY - LEILUA: Fusitu'a tries going over the top of Hunt but loses it in contact. Poor play. Dragons now in great field position as Dufty runs across field twice before finally being contained. Widdop grubbers, Leilua's first to it and dives on the loose ball for the try. 47mins: DRAGONS TRY - MCINNES: Aitken makes a strong run up the middle and the Dragons are just a couple of metres out. McInnes has a crack from dummy, spins out of the tackle of Afoa and dots down for the try. 45mins: Fusitu'a steps out of one tackle, shows the ball and tries taking on Pereira on the outside, but the Dragons winger smashes him over the sideline for a scrum. Great tackle, but dumb play from Fus. 43mins: Afoa again takes some stopping before Tevaga spins in contact. Green kicks, it's a good one, pinning Pereira back inside the in goal area but he does well to run it out. 41mins: We're back underway and it's Afoa charges it up strongly and his met by Graham. Beale makes a nifty run before Green kicks for Dufty to return. HALFTIME: WARRIORS 18 - 0 DRAGONS 40mins: WARRIORS TRY - KATA: Maumalo has a crack and takes some stopping before Kata gets rid of one himself. Warriors go the short side, Green has it, shows the ball, finds Kata and he bashes his way over for the try in the left corner. 38mins: Lafai gets the ball on the inside and there's lane for him! He's just got Tuivasa-Sheck to beat, tries going over the top but the Warriors fullback does enough to force the knock on as the two went to ground. What an effort, RTS. 38mins: Sims makes a strong run before the Dragons find a bit of space on the right. Widdop puts the bomb up and Fusitu'a drops it! It just dipped on him at the end. Fresh set for the Dragons just 20m out. 36mins: WARRIORS TRY - LUKE: Dragons knock on in their attempted intercept for another Warriors set. Tevaga takes it to the line, shows great strength to ride three or four tackles, gets the offload away to Luke and he puts the head down and dives over for the try. 34mins: Afoa makes a strong hit up from the kick-off before Papalii's sent backwards in his carry again. Tuivasa-Sheck attacks the left and looks to almost go through, but does force the penalty. 32mins: WARRIORS TRY - KATA: Johnson gets the ball and out wide and ALMOST goes in for the try but for a great tackle. Papalii shows good strength in his carry, offloads to Kata and he's over for the try. Well deserved. 30mins: Mannering holds the ball up nicely, before finally giving it to Papalii and he's forced backwards in the tackle. Blair's blindsided by Widdop and he's SMASHED! Ball still there for the Warriors, Tuivasa-Shecks put the grubber through, Dufty JUST beats Mannering to it the ball but he's penalised and sent to the sin bin for holding Tuivasa-Sheck back by the shorts. 28mins: Tuivasa-Sheck shows good feet from Kata before linking with Kata. Green tries to find Fusitu'a across field with the kick but this time Pereiera beats Fusitu'a to the high ball and takes a good catch. 25mins: Green decides against kicking, finds Johnson and he finds the sideline with a nice kick along the ground. Very interesting half so far. An absolute arm-wrestle. 23mins: Warriors not sure what to do with as Johnson throws a hospital pass before kicking down field for the Dragons to return. McInnes makes a nice run from dummy before Hunt kicks up field. 21mins: Mannering has a crack up the middle, taking a few with him before Tevaga takes it up to halfway. Johnson puts the bomb up and Nightingale bobbles it before finally bringing it in. 19mins: Green does well to get the ball away to Johnson under pressure before the Warriors come back in field and force the penalty, Dragons player offside. Johnson slots the easy shot at goal and the Warriors open the scoring. 17mins: Frizell tries to find Widdop with his back to the Warriors defence but can't do so and they're forced several metres backwards. Ball comes for Widdop and Beale SMASHES him and forces the error. 15mins: Johnson's pinged at the play of the ball for a Dragons penalty. Graham puts the head down and charges up the middle. Dufty throws a cutout pass to Pereira, he steps inside and is tackled high by Beale for a penalty.<doc-sep>Match result: The New Zealand Warriors have consolidated their top eight spot with an 18-12 win over the Dragons at WIN Stadium. » Click here to read the full match report Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share Final score Dragons 12 Warriors 18 Match preview: The St George Illawarra Dragons are looking to consolidate their top-four spot when they host the New Zealand Warriors at WIN Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 3pm (AEST). The Dragons’ recent form has been patchy, with only two wins from their last five matches. Those victories were against Parramatta and the Cowboys, while they’ve lost to the Storm, Roosters and Tigers. That slump leaves them sitting in fourth spot, with Penrith, Cronulla and Brisbane breathing down their necks. Still, coach Paul McGregor has named the same 17 that lost 36-18 to the Roosters last week at Allianz Stadium. Advertisement Advertisement The Warriors are also desperate for two points after having just one win, against the Broncos, to show for their efforts over the last five weeks. They’ve lost to Cronulla, Penrith, the Storm and the Titans during that time. They are currently sitting in eighth spot and need to return to the winners’ list to shore up their hopes of playing finals football for the first time since 2011. Coach Stephen Kearney has bolstered his team with the return of hooker Issac Luke and second-rower Tohu Harris from injury, as well as lock Adam Blair from suspension. Prediction The Red V to sneak home by 4 in a tough match. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 3pm (AEST).<doc-sep>The New Zealand Warriors have fresh injury concerns surrounding Kiwi international Tohu Harris, with the second-rower suffering a right knee injury in a training session during the week. Harris was slated to return from a left knee injury on Saturday against the Dragons, but after injuring his right knee in the lead up to the game, the 26-year-old will now return home for minor surgery, and is out indefinitely. The Warriors have not put a time frame on Harris’ return from his right knee issue.<doc-sep>
Dragons prop Paul Vaughan left the field early in his side's clash with the Warriors at WIN Stadium with a suspected ankle or knee injury. In the 11th minute of the game, Vaughan twisted awkwardly in a tackle from Adam Blair, Simon Mannering and Agnatius Paasi. Paasi was the third man in the tackle but he made contact with Vaughan above the knee, so there was no illegality. Vaughan looked visibly distressed as he clutched at his leg. MORE: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck pulls off try-saving tackle for the ages The front-rower was then limping, and couldn't put weight on his leg. Adding to the drama was that there was no medicab at WIN Stadium, with two trainers forced to assist him from the field. Watch Vaughan's injury below: Fans took aim at authorities for not having a medicab present at the ground. Dragons, get your shit together and have a medi-cab at the ground. No player should have to hobble off like that. #amateur #NRLDragonsWarriors — Woody & Slugs do League (@woodyandslugs) August 4, 2018 Billion dollar game. No medicab at every ground. @NRL spending money in all the right places 👏 #NRLDragonsWarriors — Howzat (@tweetsfromhere) August 4, 2018 There was some conjecture over whether Vaughan had suffered a knee or an ankle injury. Worry for high/medial ankle sprain for Paul Vaughan as foot folded underneath him during tackle, he won’t be back today. If confirmed, general recovery guide: Gr1: 1-4 wks Gr2: 4-8 wks Gr3: 8-10 wks #NRLDragonsWarriors — NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) August 4, 2018 Reviewing video of Paul Vaughan injury; knee is a concern too. MCL most at risk, player landing on back of leg/hyperflexion can put ACL under stress but less likely. Coach McGregor not sure if knee or ankle, Vaughan reportedly felt a pop. Fingers crossed for him pic.twitter.com/Sskkaf1DFS — NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) August 4, 2018 Following the match, Dragons coach Paul McGregor said Vaughan had his leg in a moon boot, and would have scans on Sunday to determine the extent of the injury. “Not great," McGregor said at the post-game press conference when asked how Vaughan was travelling. “He’s got a boot on down there but he’s not sure whether it’s his knee or his ankle. “He heard something pop, so he’s just sort of in a little bit of freeze mode at the moment. “He’s concerned to be honest with you. “We’ll have to wait until we get a scan and go from there, but it doesn’t look promising at all, no.” As for the game itself, the Warriors secured an upset 18-12 victory over the Dragons. Two tries to Solomone Kata and one to Issac Luke saw the visitors take an 18-0 lead in the 10 minutes going into half-time. St George Illawarra bounced back quickly in the second half with tries to Cameron McInnes and Luciano Leilua, reducing the margin to just six points with still half an hour left in the match. But the Warriors held firm to claim a gritty win, moving a step closer to a finals berth. The Warriors (26, eighth spot) have now put a four competition point gap between themselves and the Wests Tigers (22, ninth spot) with only four games left in the regular season. Meantime, the Dragons missed an opportunity to consolidate their top-four spot.