They contended with a pair of sin-bins and a late deficit, but a Tahlia O’Brien four-pointer as the siren sounded saw the Dragons come away with a miraculous 22-18 win over the Warriors in Auckland.
They faced their challenges but it was the work of left-edge trio O’Brien, Jayme Millard, and Zali Hopkins which time and time again generated attacking inroads for the Red V as they inched over the finish line.
Despite staring down the barrel of a seven-match losing streak, the Dragons refused to quit nabbing two tries in the final five minutes to snatch an unlikely result and put a dent in the Warriors’ finals hopes.
The clash marked the 50th of Teagan Berry’s NRLW career with the 24-year-old becoming the first player in club history to reach the milestone.
Berry made the move from South West Rocks to Shellharbour as a teenager to link up with the club’s pathways system scoring a double in the Steelers’ 2019 Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final win before debuting for the Dragons in 2020 whilst still at school.
Seriah Palepale also made her NRLW debut off the interchange marking the culmination of years of hard work for the Mangere East Hawks junior.
An former Australian Schoolgirls representative, Palepale linked up with the club in 2025 and this season earnt a promotion up to the squad’s Top 24 list.
Match: Warriors v Dragons
Round 9 -
home Team
Warriors
7th Position
away Team
Dragons
10th Position
Venue: Go Media Stadium, Auckland
The clash started in frustrating fashion for the Red V with video officials sending Millard to the bin for a hip drop on Tysha Ikenasio in just the second set of the match. The Dragons showcased a great deal of resolve however to hold the Warriors at bay and keep the scoreline to nil-all.
The Warriors found first points however when it was back to 13-on-13 with Stacey Waaka winning the race to a Patricia Maliepo bomb which had been allowed to bounce.
The hosts lost their Captain’s Challenge the next set in an attempt to overturn a knock-on call. The Dragons were able to hit back off it with Tyra Ekepati using her agility off the scrum win to create space down the right touchline for Maria Paseka who did a terrific job to stay in the field of play and get the ball to the turf.
The 20-year-old nailed the conversion from the touchline to lock things up at six-apiece.
Helped by a yardage penalty, the Dragons hit the lead their next opportunity with Hopkins taking advantage of a pair of strewn markers to take off down a narrow short side and send Millard over untouched in the left-hand corner.
Kasey Reh went agonisingly close to adding to the visitors’ lead moments later off her own grubber only for an awry final bounce to cruel her.
Palepale, an Auckland native, was inserted into the action for the Red V 20 minutes in for her first taste of NRLW action.
The Warriors locked things up prior to the break with Lavinia Tauhalaliku getting to the stripe in the left-hand corner before she found a second in the early stages of the second stanza to put the hosts back ahead.
An error off the following kick-off gifted the Dragons an opportunity to respond and they did exactly that with Tahlia O’Brien powering her way to the stripe for the second try of her career.
NRLW Match Highlights: Round 9 vs. Warriors
Harata Butler looked to have put the Warriors back on top with a powerful effort only for Amelia Huakau to dislodge the ball inches from the turf. Palepale was however ruled to have hit the veteran prop high in the lead-up.
Ivana Lauitiiti was sent to the sin-bin entering the final 20 minutes for dangerous contact on a kicking Kasey Reh.
Berry was strangely sent to the bin for the Dragons moments later for holding down a tackled player. The Dragons lost their Captain’s Challenge off the back of it in an attempt to overturn a knock-on call with the Warriors remaining on the attack.
Mele Hufanga powered her way over to put the home side back ahead 18-14 with 13 minutes to play.
With less than four minutes on the clock, it was again Hopkins shooting off down a short side and putting O’Brien through a hole. The 19-year-old manufactured a perfect pass to Millard who nabbed her second try to tie things at 18-apiece with Paseka’s conversion attempt going across the face of goal.
The final stages proved tense but it was the Red V who prevailed with Millard and O’Brien again linking with the latter this time diving over in the left-hand corner as time expired to secure a memorable win for Nathan Cross’ squad.
NRLW Press Conference: Round 9 vs. Warriors
