The Warriors have finally won a match south of Auckland after a 26-10 win over the defending champion Wests Tigers in Christchurch on Saturday.

The Warriors completely dominated the first half and if it wasn't for errors in the attacking third the match could have been over by halftime.

The Tigers offered little in attack throughout the match as the Warriors dominated possession and field position to celebrate Awen Guttenbeil's 150th match in style.

It was a significant win for the Warriors who had never won in New Zealand away from Ericsson.

It was a scrappy opening to the match before a Nathan Fien bomb almost punished the defending premiers, but Manu Vatuvei failed to claim possession to score in the corner.

The Warriors then placed more heat on the Tigers in the 11th minute when Steve Price stepped through a hole and offloaded to Brent Webb. A comedy of errors then ensued as possession changed hands before Vatuvei attempted to crash over the line.

Video referee Phil Cooley then decided after much deliberation that the giant winger was held up. The Tigers managed to hold out the Warriors for the remainder of the set and another opportunity missed for the 'visitors'.

However, the Warriors were able to capitalise on their dominance in the 15th minute when Tony Martin took Paul Whatuira on the outside and then offloaded brilliantly inside to Jerome Ropati, who scored in the corner.

Martin failed to convert but the Warriors took the 4-0 lead.

The Warriors could have extended their advantage just a couple of minutes later, on the back of strong work from Wiki and Price, but Nathan Fien lost possession as he dived for the line.

The Warriors did extend their lead after 25 minutes when Webb dotted down under the posts after a George Gatis break.

Gatis, in his debut appearance for the Warriors and first NRL match since 2003, made a telling run from dummy-half, making the most of some lacklustre marker defence, before offloading to the flying Webb.

Martin converted and the Warriors grabbed a deserved 10-0 lead after 25 minutes.

In the 34th minute, on the back of a drop out forced from a clever Grant Rovelli grubber, the Warriors extended their advantage.

After a storming run from Vatuvei, Clinton Toopi, one off the ruck, carried a couple of tacklers and scored the Warriors third try.

Martin failed to convert from a handy angle but the Warriors led 14-0, a lead they held on to for the closing stages of the first half.

The Warriors made a poor start to the second spell as they failed to complete their sets and the Tigers capitalised when rookie flyer Michael Crockett scored down a narrow blindside.

Brett Hodgson converted from the sideline and the Tigers narrowed the margin to eight points, giving them a glimpse of a comeback.

But the Warriors then hit back when Toopi broke the tackle of Scott Prince, sold Hodgson a dummy and then passed inside to Vatuvei and he strolled over to score under the posts.

Martin converted to restore the Warriors 14 point advantage.

The Warriors were starting to take advantage of the tired Tigers and Awen Guttenbeil, in his 150th match for the Warriors, brushed off a couple of tackles with a barnstorming run and scored a fantastic try in the 61st minute, which Martin converted.

It was a deserved reward for the Warriors second most capped player, who was putting together his strongest performance this season.

The Tigers scored a consolation try with eight minutes remaining to complete the scoring when Daniel Fitzhenry gathered a Dean Collis grubber, which Hodgson failed to convert.