Two tries in each half carried the New Zealand Warriors to a 24-12 win over Melbourne in their opening National Rugby League trial in Hamilton.
After just four minutes, veteran halfback Stacey Jones, making his first appearance for the club in almost three and half years, provided a key pass under pressure to enable fullback Wade McKinnon to score the opening try.
Aidan Kirk and Daniel O'Regan also scored while World Cup-winning Kiwi winger Manu Vatuvei scored the 4th and last just minutes from fulltime.
Coach Ivan Cleary was particularly pleased with their defensive effort.
He says their aim is to get more value out of their trials and to produce better performances than they have done in the past and they went a long way towards achieving that in Hamilton.
Heavy rain set in an hour before the game and never let up, forcing both sides to change their game plans after weeks of hot and dry weather.
It seemed to make little difference to the Warriors with 32-year-old Jones immediately settling into the groove with telling kicks that kept the Storm in their own territory.
This was the first time the Warriors had played under the NRL's new two-referee concept with Jason Robinson and Phil Haines operating in tandem. Neither the players nor Cleary had any concerns afterwards about having an extra referee on the field.
A coin collection at the ground raised more than $10,000 for the Victoria bushfire appeal.
