They were much better than their inept 36-16 defeat to the Eels - that wouldn't have been hard - but they still lacked fluency and the errors mounted as they chased the game. They had plenty of possession and effort but lacked execution and came up against a Dragons defence that wouldn't bend.
They were held scoreless in the second half playing into the strong wind at Eden Park and the pressure finally told as their defence yielded.
They also struggled to cope with the Dragons' clever kicking game, and Sam Tomkins gifted another try when he spilled another bomb early in the second half.
It hasn't been a happy start for the England fullback, although he scored his first try for his new club when he used all of his 83kg frame to crash over inside the first 5 minutes.
What really hurt them was leaking two tries inside three minutes straight after halftime. They had worked really hard to build a 12-6 halftime lead only to give it up too meekly.
The first came when Tomkins spilled a bomb and Adam Quinlan cantered over and the second when Gareth Widdop grubbered in behind the Warriors' defence and Gerard Beale took the final pass.
At 18-12 down, the home side tried to lift but their attacks were well read by the Dragons' sliding defence. They crossed twice, but Shaun Johnson had the ball dislodged when going for the line and Ben Henry was adjudged to have been inside the 10m when a grubber kick was made.
Morris was ready for the grubber the next time it came in the 69th minute and he then ran away 100m to seal the match.
It continues the Dragons' stranglehold over the Warriors, taking their winning run to nine games and the Warriors have won only four times in 21 games against the team from Wollongong.
The return of Thomas Leuluai can't happen soon enough. Chad Townsend is steady at five-eighth but lacks the physicality and precision of Leuluai.
In another disconcerting sign, Henry also limped off with what looked like a recurrence of a knee injury.
Life doesn't get any easier for the Warriors - they travel to the Cowboys next weekend - but they simply have to find a way to win.
Warriors 12 (Sam Tomkins, Jerome Ropati tries; Shaun Johnson 2 gls)
Dragons 31 (Mitch Rein, Adam Quinlan, Gerard Beale, Brett Morris, Ben Creagh tries; Gareth Widdop 5 gls; Widdop fg).
HT: 12-6
