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.
13mins: Blair is tackled hard before Gavet charges hard into Graham and de Belin. Ball comes for Paasi, he takes some stopping, tries getting the offload away but is stripped and the Warriors will have another set. Kata double pumps but his pass to Maumalo is forward.
11mins: Ball comes for Tuivasa-Sheck and he busts right through the Dragons defence! He's finally dragged down just over halfway. Kata tries bashing his way over from dummy on the last but he can't quite get there. Vaughan's coming off after a nasty tackle around the legs.
9mins: McInness shows the ball and almost goes over but the Warriors close on him well and force the error at the play of the ball. Some strong runs there from Vaughan in the lead-up.
7mins: Frizell's forced to clean up, runs back, picks the ball up and turns around to split the Warriors defence wide open! He's looking for support but his pass is intercepted by Luke. Close call.
5mins: Vaughan makes a strong run up the middle before Blair makes a good tackle around the legs of de Belin. Hunt puts the bomb up, Fusitu'a goes up to take the hands catch. Nicely done.
3mins: Maumalo the first for the Warriors to charge it up. Gavet's cut out before he gets the return ball to have a go up the middle. Warriors kick and the Dragons take it easily before being awareded the penalty.
1mins: Vaughan takes the first hit-up for the Dragons. Frizell has a crack, followed by Graham before Hunt kicks upfield.
5:00pm: Players making their way out of the sheds. Moments away now from kick-off. Not a bad way to kick-off a great night of footy.
4:55pm: The Warriors have never beaten the Dragons here so a chance to make history today.
4:50pm: Thanks for joining us as the Warriors look to snap their losing streak and beat the Dragons away from home.
Kia ora and welcome to live updates of the New Zealand Warriors playing the St. George Illawarra Dragons in Wollongong in round 21 of the NRL.
We bring you live streaming written commentary, (BE SURE TO REFRESH YOUR BROWSER), and all the action.
Commentary will start from around 4:50pm.
Lineups
Warriors
1. Roger Tuivasa-sheck 2. David Fusitua 3. Gerard Beale 4. Solomone Kata 5. Ken Maumalo 6. Blake Green 7. Shaun Johnson 8. James Gavet 9. Issac Luke 10. Agnatius Paasi 11. Isaiah Papalii 15. Simon Mannering 13. Adam Blair
Interchange: 14. Jazz Tevaga 16. Leivaha Pulu 17. Bunty Afoa 21. Sam Lisone 18. Peta Hiku 23. Joseph Vuna
Dragons
1. Matthew Dufty 2. Jordan Pereira 3. Euan Aitken 4. Timoteo Lafai 5. Jason Nightingale 6.Gareth Widdop 7. Ben Hunt 8. James Graham 9. Cameron McInnes 10. Paul Vaughan 11.Tyson Frizell 12. Tariq Sims 13. Jack de Belin
Interchange: 14. Jeremy Latimore 15. Kurt Mann 16. Leeson Ah Mau 17. Luciano Leilua 19. Blake Lawrie 20. Zac Lomax
Match officials
Referees: Gerard Sutton, Chris Butler
Sideline Officials: Clayton Sharpe, Michael Wise
Video Referees: Ashley Klein, Ben Galea
Previous results
Played 27 wins, Dragons 21 wins, Warriors 6 wins
Last meeting
Warriors won 20-12 at Mt Smart Stadium in round 7
Head to head:
Warriors $2.70 Dragons $1.42
Pre-match banter: Stephen Kearney's 'soft' critique after heavy loss rouses Warriors
Gerard Beale believes Warriors coach Stephen Kearney hit the bullseye when he called his players soft following their latest heavy NRL loss.
But experienced centre Beale is determined Kearney won't have cause to say that again as the Kiwi outfit prepare for their important match against St George Illawarra.
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The eighth-placed Warriors heaped pressure on themselves with a spiritless 36-12 loss to the Titans on the Gold Coast last weekend.
The players haven't been able to escape Kearney's ire, with the team electing to prepare in Australia to cope with a five-day turnaround.
Beale is sure his team will respond as they bid to become the first Warriors team in 11 attempts to topple the Dragons at Wollongong.
Kearney's critique in Robina will be ringing in their ears.
"It was fair," Beale said.
"We didn't want to brush it under the carpet.
"I guess the word soft, for us, it was just in the way we were trying to take the soft option - you know, letting our guard down, waiting for someone else to step up and take charge of the game."
Former Dragon Beale said the Warriors were guilty of complicating their game against the Titans, as they've done in a handful of other substantial defeats this season.
They've had most success when they've kept their game plan simple, Beale said, most notably in the stunning 20-12 round seven defeat of the then-leading Dragons in Auckland.
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor said Kearney's stinging assessment had him worried.
"The coach called their performance soft. Soft is a hard word to a rugby league player," he said.
"They've got some talent across the park, which is why they were a top-four side for most of the year early. We expect them to turn up."
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