Any chance of Jersey Flegg Cup finals football slipped out of reach for the One New Zealand Warriors two weeks ago leaving them with no option but to finish the season as well as possible in the last two rounds.
That starts against Parramatta at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on Sunday (1.35pm kick-off) followed by the Knights in Newcastle next week.
Wins in both would lift the Warriors to 27 points, possibly as high as eighth, but out of the top five play-off spots.
They had been in with a fair shot of making the finals going into the last five rounds.
Beating St George Illawarra was definitely on – only for the weather gods to force the postponement of the contest.
Match: Warriors v Eels
Round 25 -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Eels
Team Lists
Backs
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Fullback for Warriors is number 1 Joseph RatcliffeFullback for Eels is number 1 Corey Leigh
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Winger for Warriors is number 2 Harry Tauafiafi-IutoiWinger for Eels is number 2 Lorima Rokosuka
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Centre for Warriors is number 3 Motu PasikalaCentre for Eels is number 4 Antioch Faitala-Mariner
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Centre for Warriors is number 4 Caelys-Paul PutokoCentre for Eels is number 19 Nathan Howlett
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Winger for Warriors is number 5 Brandon NorrisWinger for Eels is number 5 Mohamed Alameddine
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Five-Eighth for Warriors is number 6 Maui Winitana-PatelesioFive-Eighth for Eels is number 6 Cameron Bamblett
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Halfback for Warriors is number 7 Jack ThompsonHalfback for Eels is number 7 Josh Lynn
Forwards
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Prop for Warriors is number 8 Presley Seumanu TigafuaProp for Eels is number 8 Beau Lucien
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Hooker for Warriors is number 14 Etuate FukofukaHooker for Eels is number 9 Patrick Spence
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Prop for Warriors is number 10 Emosi RavosaiProp for Eels is number 10 Damascus Neemia
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 11 Patrick Moimoi2nd Row for Eels is number 11 Domenico De Stradis
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 12 Alvin Chong Nee2nd Row for Eels is number 20 Trace Beattie
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Lock for Warriors is number 13 Paea SikuveaLock for Eels is number 13 Max Popo
Interchange
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Interchange for Warriors is number 15 Mikaele IlaiuInterchange for Eels is number 14 Jack Hudson
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Interchange for Warriors is number 16 Dezman LabanInterchange for Eels is number 22 Isaac Jim
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Interchange for Warriors is number 17 Jeriko Filipi-TalisauInterchange for Eels is number 23 Javahn Stevenson-Hala
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Interchange for Warriors is number 20 Mitchell BebbingtonInterchange for Eels is number 27 Jordan Miller
Reserves
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Replacement for Warriors is number 18 Rapheal SioReplacement for Eels is number 18 Sebastian Piukala
Last updated:
Everything then hinged on the battle with the Bulldogs but the Warriors were unable to build on a narrow lead before going down 14-26.
With hopes of a top five finish gone, the disappointment was palpable when they took on Penrith last week. While they pulled back to 16-26 just after halftime they then fell away completely to lose 22-60.
They will seek to rebound against Parramatta in the curtain raiser to the round eight NRLW clash between the One New Zealand Warriors and Cronulla Sutherland.
