The Warriors have uncovered a hidden gem in debutant winger Kevin Locke and snapped a three-game losing streak in the process with a 14-0 victory over Wests Tigers at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.

The Junior Kiwi scored a try in each half and a conversion in the second while the Tigers' attack failed to get out of first gear in cold and wet conditions in front of 15,365 fans in Auckland.

The defeat leaves the Tigers with four straight losses and in desperate need of a stellar back half to the season to have any hope of making the top eight.

All the Tigers' attacking ideas stemmed from the pivotal Benji Marshall and it was clear they missed their State of Origin selected captain Robbie Farah more than the Warriors did without Steve Price, who is also on Origin duty.

Locke usually plays at fullback but was outstanding on the wing, with the 20-year-old, who was the second highest points scorer in the Toyota Cup last year, showing the potential to be a major talent.

Warriors halfback Stacey Jones had been under the pump from Kiwi media after the 38-12 loss to Canberra last week, but he and the rest of the side lifted their game to keep the New Zealanders in the mix for the playoffs.

The biggest turn around for the Warriors was their defence, which had been so porous in recent weeks with Micheal Luck an imposing figure in their line.

After a slow start, big Warriors wing Manu Vatuvei gave the crowd something to get excited about with a couple of barnstorming runs.

But the Tigers' defence held solid and later in the half it was the visitors who came closest to scoring with Blake Ayshford and Marshall combining to leave the Warriors on the back foot on their goal line.

The scoring drought was eventually broken in the 30th minute when Locke ran in for the only try of the half.

Locke ran through a hole in the Tigers' defence created by Jerome Ropati's drifting run 10m from the line.

The Warriors scored again early in the second half, with fullback Wade McKinnon touching down after an offload from utility Russell Packer.

The Tigers had the run of play over the last 20 minutes but careless mistakes inside the Warriors 10m line kept them shut out, while Locke secured his double with a last minute try.

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