Warriors star answers his coach’s prayers
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak feared he was late for the game when he got a message at church from Warriors coach Andrew Webster.
Webster spent most of Sunday morning frantically phoning squad members after players dropped out of the Dolphins game.
The coach’s parents were over from Australia to spend some time with their son, but they had to patiently wait while he rejigged his lineup.
Watene-Zelezniak told Sky TV he was in the pews when Webster called at about noon. “I saw ‘Coach Webby’ on my phone and thought i was late.”
For a fleeting moment Watene-Zelezniak feared the match might be kicking off in mid-afternoon instead of early evening.
But the specialist winger went out and took the call and heard Webster say, ‘Mate, I need you to play fullback today”.
Watene-Zelezniak replied “no worries, whatever we need’’ then he ”went back into sacrament and said my prayers“.
The 28-year-old was needed at fullback because Taine Tuaupiki withdrew with his partner in labour.
Watene-Zelezniak started his NRL career at the Panthers in the No 1 jumper but hadn’t played there since 2021.
But the former Kiwis captain was one of the Warriors’ best, scoring a vital second-half try and carving off a game-high 205m off 22 runs in the Warriors’ 24-20 win over Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins.
“The key was Dallin did it his way, he didn’t try to be someone else,’’ Webster said. ”He did it on effort, running hard and being a constant threat around the ruck to the opposition.
“The way he returned the ball was so fierce. He just gave us so much energy. A lot of our inspiration and momentum came off Dallin.’’
The Warriors had to make three backline changes, with Rocco Berry dropping out of the centres after an operation and then Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who had been slated to switch from standoff to centre, falling ill on game day.
That’s when Webster started scrolling through his phone directory.
He made a call to Moala Graham-Tafua to tell him he was making his club debut.
“It would have been nicer face-to-face, but it was still a really nice moment,’’ said Webster, who was able to arrange a jersey presentation to the 22-year-old centre in the Mt Smart Stadium dressing room.
Graham-Tafua, a NSW Cup regular with the Warriors, had been listed as 18th man.
He told Sky he was shocked and speechless after getting Webster’s call. “I was just grateful for the opportunity and God’s timing.’’
Webster said while it was a different preparation no-one panicked about the changes. ”Everyone seemed to get more excited.“
Watene-Zelezniak said the Warriors had dopted a ”next man up and do your job’’ mentality. “There’s been times through the year when we’ve been really, really good and there’s been times when we’ve been really, really bad, but we focused on the good things.”