Now, winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak looks set to join the injury report with a suspected leg issue suffered in the second half against the Dolphins.
But what they haven’t lost is their fight and, after training for most of the second half, that paid dividends when hooker Sam Healey fought his way over from close range to give the Warriors a two-point lead inside the final five minutes.
This was written as a story of resilience in the face of adversity.
Then Selwyn Cobbo brushed past Adam Pompey to change the ending.
The Dolphins winger’s second try of the match, and Jamayne Isaako’s ensuing conversion a couple of metres in from touch lifted the hosts to a 26-24 win over the Warriors, getting revenge for a two-point loss to the New Zealand side in Wellington in April.
That match was the last time the Dolphins lost a game, with Kristian Woolf’s side now on an eight-game winning streak.
The result puts the third-placed Dolphins level on points with the second-placed Warriors and now fourth-placed Sydney Roosters, though they still trail Andrew Webster’s outfit by 37 points in the points differential.
For the Warriors, who went into the game already having to start Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad out of position on the wing, they will have to go deep on their depth chart should Watene-Zelezniak miss any time as centre Adam Pompey finished the game on the wing and was exploited a couple of times defensively.
The Warriors made a great start to the contest, that fight instilled into the side showing a couple of times in the first half; first when halfback Te Maire Martin forced Cobbo to knock on as the winger tried to ground the ball, then again when prop Tanner Stowers-Smith chased down Dolphins five-eighth Kodi Nikorima and forced him to ground the ball on the touch line as he tried to score a try.
The Dolphins did open the scoring through Cobbo, but some strong work in the air from Warriors second rower Jacob Laban as the visitors take the lead inside the opening 10 minutes, then extend that through an eventual Watene-Zelezniak try.
The Dolphins had an injury concern of their own early, with star halfback Isaiya Katoa forced to leave the game with a wrist injury, but the hosts only stepped things up in his absence.
Scoring twice before the break, the Dolphins held the lead at halftime, then extended that with a second to Isaako early in the second half.
But the Warriors fought back again.
A try to Nicoll-Klokstad brought them closer, before a bold call from Healey to go alone from dummy half on the final play from close range looked to be the winning moment.
Instead, a loose ball fell the way of the Dolphins, and Cobbo did the rest.
The Warriors will now head into the bye – potentially coming at the right time as they address some injury concerns, before a run of four games with teams currently outside the top eight.
Warriors 24 (Jacob Laban, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Sam Healey tries; Adam Pompey 4 cons)
Dolphins 26 (Jamayne Isaako 2, Selwyn Cobbo 2, Herbie Farnworth tries; Jamayne Isaako 3 cons)
HT: 12-16