NZ Warriors

An incredible late surge from Ricky Stuart's Raiders, with Elliot Whitehead and Jack Wighton tries saw the visitors go back-to-back in two minutes but a missed Jarrod Croker conversion put the game into extra time.

But when Johnson drilled the clutch moment with his first opportunity from 30m out, the Warriors broke the Raiders' hearts for a second time this season and booked a spot in the top three of the competition ladder.

Playing as well as ever in his 13th season in the NRL, 32-year-old Johnson came up with two try assists, two forced dropouts and 722 kick metres as the Warriors racked up their sixth win of 2023.

"Shaun leads with his voice and he leads with his actions and that's very powerful when a player can do that," Warriors coach Andrew Webster said post-match.

Lodge was a mid-season signing from the Broncos, with Brisbane believed to have been chipping in a decent chunk of his salary to have him play for Nathan Brown’s side.

The deal was sealed by the controversial prop’s father-in-law and the Warriors recruitment manager, Peter O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan’s son, Sean, is also in the Warriors’ squad.

Lodge has only played six games since signing from Brisbane, copping a total off six weeks suspension.

Vatuvei on Monday confirmed he had been granted an early release to join Super League club Salford, with the 31-year-old due to depart for the UK on Sunday.

For one night only, Mt Smart has been temporarily renamed 'Manu Vatuvei Stadium' and while his new contract prevented from playing one last game for the Auckland club, his soon-to-be ex-teammates formed a guard of honour as 'The Beast' walked onto the field with his family wearing the No 5 jersey he has held a mortgage on for more than a decade. He shed a few tears as he walked out to the rapturous applause.