Taunoa-Brown scores as Warriors down Dragons

Impressive stints from a pair of rookie Warriors helped New Zealand down a disappointing Dragons outfit 18-0 at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The two winless teams were desperate to get on the board but it was the Warriors who looked far more desperate and in an injury-ravaged forward pack it was budding stars Eliesa Katoa and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown who set the early running with their physicality and each were rewarded with first-half tries.

A rib injury that forced centre Peta Hiku out of the game in the first half was the only sour note for Steve Kearney's men, who have sacrificed more than most to uproot themselves from their homes and families to base themselves in Australia.

They were boosted by a stunning 100% completion rate through the first 75 minutes of the game, completing their first 44 sets before club debutant Jack Murchie was deemed to have lost the ball in a tackle.

While their completions were near-perfect, an even more important stat-line for Steve Kearney would be one that was perfect – the zero points conceded.

For the Dragons, it's not how they would have pictured their first game upon the resumption with their work in attack particularly poor. At least five times in the match players were tackled on the last and even outside of that their last-tackle options gave the Warriors no headaches at all and their attack overall was disjointed.

No-one could fault the effort of hooker Cameron McInnes though; things could have been a lot worse without his 71 tackles (and none missed), including one try-save.