A second-half one-two punch combo by the Warriors halves have got their NRL season back on track, paving the way for a 30-8 win over the Dolphins in Auckland.

Shaun Johnson continued his fine form by scoring the second of his two tries in the 53rd minute, unlocking some committed defence with a jinking run that harked back to his days as a hot-stepping youngster.

Then, directly from the restart, Luke Metcalf was on hand to take a pass from a Marata Niukore linebreak, racing 40 metres to score under the posts for 18-4.

Up until then, it had been a low-scoring but entertaining game, with both teams throwing the ball around in front of a 23,000-strong crowd at Mt Smart Stadium.

The Dolphins were missing Queensland Origin duo Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Tom Gilbert plus the suspended Felise Kaufusi, and had to scratch hooker Jeremy Marshall-King late due to injury.

This was the first game offshore for the debut NRL club and the the first game back at Mt Smart in over a month for the Warriors.

Johnson got the hosts off to a perfect start, stepping his way through under the posts in only the fifth minute. But from there the first half was more notable for its big hits, some more legal than others.

Warriors centre Rocco Berry was forced from the field for a HIA after a heavy shot, while second-rower Mitch Barnett made up for lost time after a two-month neck-injury absence by tackling anything that moved.

The Dolphins had precious little attacking opportunities in the first half, but they made one count just before the break when Tesi Niu latched onto a looping pass from Kodi Nikorima to score in the corner.

Johnson and Metcalf’s tries shot the home side out to a lead they were never going to relinquish, especially after the Dolphins started to concede far too many penalties.

The Warriors kept the pressure on, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was first denied correctly by the video match officials due to an obstruction by Bayley Sironen in the lead up.

But then the veteran winger got over in the same corner off more or less the same move, this time Johnson and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad combining perfectly to send him over.

Watene-Zelezniak wasn’t done, picking off a pass from Isiaya Katoa to race half the length of the field to put an exclamation point on a much-needed win for the Warriors before Jamayne Isaac grabbed a consolation try for the Dolphins.