Bulldogs spend most of their set inside the 10m line but can't penetrate. Eventually they kick wide but Hurrell is back there to safely recover. Warriors drop out.
Refs want the play-the-balls to be a little quicker. Not a bad first defensive set from the Warriors.
Neilsen does well this time to take a Bulldogs grubber out of the in-goal. Two strong defensive sets from the Warriors and they pick up a penalty on the first tackle.
Five minutes in and the Warriors push up over halfway for the first time.
Johnson bombs high on the last and it bounces awkwardly for the Bulldogs before Perrett eventually cleaned it up.
Interestingly, Simon Mannering has lined up on the right edge, which has often been a little troublesome. Jayson Bukuya, of course, is out with a toe injury
Bulldogs kick deep to Laumape who storms back at pace. Warriors on the front foot now 30m out.
Leuluau sends a probing kick down into the corner but it just runs out of play before Vatuvei could catch it. Bulldogs scrum from 10m.
After a fast start the game has settled down a little. Warriors push up over halfway on their third this time.
Clinical try. Matulino made it, Tomkins finished it off.
That was a terrific offload from Ben Matulino, who is playing in the second row today. And then Tomkins popping up on Leuluai's shoulder, just like they used to do at Wigan
In traffic Matulino took a tackle but managed to force an offload to Leuluai who drew the defender and passed to Tomkins who has made the perfect support run.
Johnson slots the conversion, Warriors lead 6-0.
10 MINS - WARRIORS 6 BULLDOGS 0
Oh dear, Nathan Friend has been undone by the bounce from the kick off and the Warriors are straight back under pressure.
How to suck the momentum out of proceedings. Tomkins makes up for it with a 64m dropout.
The ball touched his shin before scooting out of bounds. The Warriors drop out.
Bulldogs kick wide to the Warriors right wing again on their last but Hurrell somehow controls it with his shin before landing on it. Not conventional, but safe.
Defensively, the Warriors look good. They have good linespeed and also a bit of feeling in the hits.
Bulldogs win a penalty now as Lillyman and Friend are pinged for forcing them back.
Bulldogs 12m away on tackle two.
What a tackle. The Bulldogs go wide right and it looks like Corey Thompson will score but Tomkins came flying across to knock the ball from his hands and out of play.
We just saw a tip tackle from Tony Williams that went unpunished. It was no different to what Jordan McLean did. Hmm.
Johnson caps off a super Warriors set with a perfectly judged kick into the corner. The Warriors have been impressive in the opening 15 minutes.
Bulldogs kick deep to Tomkins who has the ball stripped in the tackle. Warriors penalty.
Sam Tomkins is learning very quickly to pop up on Ben Matulino's shoulder. Matulino looks good slightly wider in the secoond row
Hurrell gets dragged into touch on the Warriors' last tackle this time. But they are looking likely. Johnson, Matulino and Tomkins have all made good starts.
Tomkins has a brain snap and makes a late call to try and catch a wide kick before it went out and slipped out of bounds.
Interestingly, the Warriors haven't yet made a change and wer're into the 23rd minute. Previously under Matt Elliott, the first was made after about 16 minutes.
Bulldogs with a great chance to launch an attack now from 10m out.
Big Manu made a real mess of a grubber in goal, but somehow got away with it. He turned, slipped and fell out of play but so did the Bulldogs attacker and the ball slowly bounced into touch.
23 mins gone and the Warriors lead 6-0.
Reynolds sends a high ball down to Laumape who is able to catch under no real pressure. Fifteen minutes left in the first half.
Johnson makes a break. He slipped a tackle and shot into a gap but had no support. But the Bulldogs held onto him for too long in the tackle. Warriors penalty.
Or is it, the Bulldogs are claiming a knock on, we are going upstairs.
Matulino was in the heart of it again, forcing a pass away under pressure. The ball found Vatuvei on the wing who turned and powered to the line. TRY AWARDED.
Vatuvei has his 122nd try and the Warriors have a 10-0 lead.
That's the fourth offload from Matulino and the second directly from said offloads. He's loving the extra space and is able to go to the line and offload. In the middle, he has to contend with bigger boys who are better at shutting things down.
Johnson crashes the conversion off the post. Warriors 10 Bulldogs 0
McFadden couldn't have asked for a better 30 minutes to start his reign. Just 50 to go now..
Tomkins looking increasingly like a flat track bully, at least in the 1 jersey. How would he go in the halves with Shaun Johnson? #NRLwarcbyby GT_Tips via twitter 4/13/2014 4:30:43 AM
Big Maaaahnuuuu #nrlwarcbyby SWTGALLAGHER via twitter 4/13/2014 4:34:31 AM