The Warriors needed the boot of five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita to edge clear of St George-Illawarra Dragons 20-12 at Auckland's Go Media Stadium.
By Grant Chapman of RNZ
In a nervy encounter with the NRL cellar dwellers, the home side trailled 12-10 at halftime and scored the only try of the second half to poke their noses in front five minutes into the second half.
The Dragons never gave up and seemed to have hit the lead again, when former Warriors reserve-grader Setu Tu broke down the right sideline and evaded defenders from all angles to score.
Everyone in the stadium had seen he was actually held in a tackle about 10 metres out from the tryline, before slipping out again, and eventually referee Chris Butler and the bunker spotted it too, disallowing the four-pointer.
Entering the final 10 minutes still just two points ahead, the Warriors took full toll of the penalties awarded in the attacking half, with Harris-Tavita slotting two in the dying moments to seal victory.
Centre Adam Pompey opened the scoring in the fourth minute, when he slid over for a try, but the two teams swapped the lead through the opening 40 minutes, with wing Alofiana Khan-Pereira crossing for the Warriors' second try before the break.
Upon the resumption, wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored in the other corner to put his team ahead for good.
The result sees the Warriors regain second spot on the competition ladder, ahead of Sydney Roosters on points differential and only two points behind leaders Penrith Panthers.
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