A wet weather master class from halfback Shaun Johnson and a double to winger Manu Vatuvei has helped lift the Warriors to a 30-16 win over Penrith in atrocious conditions at Centrebet Stadium on Monday evening.
Johnson laid on both of Vatuvei's first-half tries and kept the Panthers on the back foot all night with an astute kicking game in driving rain.
Vatuvei atoned for his last-start shocker against Melbourne as the Warriors ended a two-match losing run against a committed but under-strength Panthers outfit.
Feleti Mateo and Simon Mannering were also outstanding in conditions perfectly suited to the New Zealanders.
Penrith, without Origin stars Luke Lewis, Michael Jennings and Tim Grant, did well to battle back from 12-0 down but were held scoreless in the second half as the Kiwis regained the advantage to record 18 unanswered points.
They now sit equal last with the Eels.
The Warriors' early ball control was superb in the greasy conditions, allowing them to set up a 12-0 lead.
The first try came after 10 minutes following a simple error from Penrith full-back Lachlan Coote.
Alone in the in-goal with no pressure on him, the No.1 dropped a Johnson bomb and turned in time to see Vatuvei pounce for a soft try.
Seven minutes later the Johnson-Vatuvei combination worked a treat again, this time a perfect grubber from the No.7 allowing his big mate to get in behind the defence to claim a double.
Things were looking as bleak as the weather for the Panthers until a dramatic nine-minute period turned the half.
Faced with a three-man overlap on 26 minutes, Penrith winger Josh Mansour opted to chance the intercept and was handsomely rewarded.
He batted the ball up one handed and regathered before racing 85m untouched to score under the posts.
Four minutes later Kevin Kingston scored after some great lead-up work from Luke Walsh and Geoff Daniela added a third try as Penrith went from 12 points down to lead 16-12.
The Warriors thought they had returned to the lead eight minutes after the break only for video referee Phil Cooley to controversially deny them.
Vatuevi looked to have collected a hat-trick from another Johnson grubber but Cooley ruled he had knocked on even though the evidence suggested otherwise.
Five minutes later the visitors finally did take the lead.
A loose pass from Coote was swooped on by Konrad Hurrell and he motored 30m to the line.
James Maloney's try with 16 minutes to go effectively killed off the Penrith challenge.
The Warriors iced the win in the final minute when Mateo split the defence and kicked for Kevin Locke to score.
Penrith 16
Tries: Mansour, Kingston, Daniela
Goals: Walsh 2
Warriors 30
Tries: Vatuvei 2, Hurrell, Maloney, Locke
Goals: Maloney 5
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