Fiji Bati winger Marcelo Montoya scored a hat-trick of tries in New Zealand Warriors’ huge 48-12 victory over the Wests Tigers in a NRL pre-season fixture last night.
Debutants Te Maire Martin and Luke Metcalf combined well in the halves to set up Montoya in the 9th minute as he dummied to touch down.
Three minutes later, lock Jackson Ford broke from the Tigers midfield and ran to his breath to score right under the post before Montoya produced a charging effort that knocked Tigers fullback Charlie Staines off his feet for his second try.
Metcalf slotted both conversions to give them a 14-0 lead at the break.
Early in the second stanza, Staines looked solid trying to put the Tigers on the scoreboard despite limited opportunities in the match.
Metcalf continued to impress the Warriors coach and fans with a brilliant solo effort in the second half with his very first try in NRL while Montoya barged over the Tigers’ try line to score his hat trick, Metcalf converted both.
It was back-to-back tries from Trey Peni and Stefano Utoikamanu that saw Tigers go on the scoreboard while Fiji Bati and Tigers debutant Brandon Wakeham converted both for 12 points.
Tigers joys were short relieved when Viliami Vailea, Moala Graham-Taufa, Viliami Vailea, and Fiji-born prop Solomon Vasuvulagi came off the bench and scored the consolation tries while Vailea and Eiden Ackland added the conversion to seal the win.
