Sydney Roosters centre Blake Ferguson's last-gasp try sinks New Zealand Warriors

Warriors 21 Roosters 25

Back from injury: Blake Ferguson made a triumphant retun as the Roosters downed the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium. Photo: Getty Images

• As it happened: Warriors v Roosters

The Warriors have spectacularly blown their chance to pick up a win against the highly fancied Roosters at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night going down 25-21.

For almost all of the first half the Warriors were in complete control of this game and were up 14-0 at one stage, but once again they were their own worst enemy, letting in some soft tries and giving all of the momentum back to the Roosters.

After losing to the Rabbitohs last weekend, the Warriors failed against two of the biggest clubs in the NRL and their brief spell inside the top eight has come to an end.

"It's a really good performance in the context of our season," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said. "We're not top four at the moment but they showed a fighting spirit - a really tough honest team that worked hard for each other."

Robinson said man of the match James Maloney, who spent three seasons with the Warriors, had quipped earlier in the day that he was "the prince of Auckland or something like that".

"He loved his time here, he really valued it and he really likes coming back here," he said. "He played his game tonight, then he stepped up to win it for us."

Despite the defeat, coach Andrew McFadden was pleased with the effort of his young side, saying it was totally different from what they produced in their 36-4 last-start loss to South Sydney in Perth.

"There was a lot more to like about tonight than there was last week," he said. "It was completely chalk and cheese if you ask me. We will got a lot of learning out of that when we look at the tape but I think we're certainly on the right track."

Once again Sam Tomkins was ruled out before the game because of his left knee injury, so that match up against the Warriors' fullback of 2016, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck never materialised.

It meant Tuimoala Lolohea came into the starting side and 18th man Jonathan Wright was on the interchange bench.

The Warriors were given a penalty in the 20th minute when James Maloney held down Bodene Thompson after the tackle to stop him making a quick play of the ball, but the Warriors blew their opportunity to score when Manu Vatuvei couldn't gather in a low pass.

But the pressure the Warriors were putting on finally paid off in the 27th minute when they shifted the ball to the left with Lolohea, flicking a nice, quick pass to put Solomone Kata into space to score.

Three minutes later the Warriors were in again, with Lolohea and Kata swapping roles. Kata ran 30 metres after a line break and passed inside to the fullback to beat the last man.

The third try and perhaps the most significant of Vatuvei's career came in the 35th minute. It made him the first person in NRL history to score at least 10 tries for 10 straight years.

The Warriors should have taken a 14-0 lead into the changing sheds, but just like against the Rabbitohs last week, Lolohea made a blunder in the 39th minute, this time not grounding the ball in goal and allowing Shaun Kenny-Dowall to pounce on it.

It would have left Warriors coach Andrew McFadden furious that his side only led by eight points at the break. 

The Roosters completed just six of 12 sets in that half and missed 13 tackles to three from the Warriors.

It should have been game over at halftime, yet the Warriors had let the Roosters back in the contest.

Three minutes into the second half Konrad Hurrell had his first big impact in the game carrying the ball twice in an attack that led to Kata's second try.

This was answered by a try from winger Brendan Elliot, who jumped to collect a bomb, while Hurrell and Ken Maumalo just watched on.

Maloney kicked a penalty in the 55th minute to make it a six-point game.

Nathan Friend went off with concussion, joining Sam Lisone on the sidelines who ended the game early with a shoulder injury.

Having just 15 players meant the Warriors players were out on their feet and Maloney made the most of it running through to score in the 70th minute.

The former Warrior then landed the field goal to give the Roosters a one-point lead. However, Shaun Johnson did likewise with four minutes left on the clock.

With a minute on the clock, the Roosters had one last play, the Warriors players expected another field goal, but the ball went wide and Blake Ferguson grabbed the match winner.