The New Zealand Warriors have blizted the Parramatta Eels in the first half to win 29-16 in Auckland.
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The Warriors dominated the first 40 minutes, running out to a 22-0 lead.
They added another try at the start of the second half to further impose their dominance. But Parramatta made a final rally, posting three tries late, to give New Zealand a little scare.
Ryan Hoffman got the first four-pointer when he barged over. Then Solomone Kata scored when he dived on a grubber.
The third try was lovely, set up by a burst up the middle from Thomas Leuluai.
The Warriors were controlling proceedings. Chad Townsend almost had another, when he broke through and chipped, but he was taken out by Will Hopoate.
The video referee said it wasn’t a penalty try. It didn’t matter, with tries to Tumimoala Lolohea and Manu Vatuvei before the end of the first half.
In the second half Parramatta finally started to make inroads. Brad Takarangi scored after a nice run from Reece Robinson.
Then Robinson scored his own special solo effort.
When David Gower barged over it gave the Eels a faint glimmer of hope. But they couldn’t get over the line again and Shaun Johnson added a late field goal to wrap up the match.
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