KEY POINTS:
The Warriors came through their great 30-13 win over the Roosters without injury or judicial issues and will probably make just one change for their next knockout game against Manly, reinjecting their major strike weapon Wade McKinnon.
McKinnon is sure to push Lance Hohaia to the bench when the side is named tomorrow despite Hohaia's great efforts on attack and his return of two tries.
Hohaia was not always safe defusing the Roosters' kicks and twice was lucky not to let in tries as the cover saved him.
McKinnon's defensive positioning and certainty with the opposition kick as well as superior kick-return will see him back straight after the three-week suspension for contrary conduct.
As well as strengthening the defence, McKinnon's return affects two dimensions to the attack.
First, it frees Hohaia to spend more time doing what he did best with the ball on Friday night, darting through tired tacklers.
Second, it means defenders will not be able to pay the attention to the other main strike weapons, Manu Vatuvei and Jerome Ropati on the left and Brent Tate on the right, that that trio has had in the matches against the Roosters, Storm and Eels while McKinnon was out.
The team had a recovery session on Saturday and the day off yesterday.
Training resumes in earnest today and they fly to Sydney on Thursday, hoping to get a training run at the Sydney Football Stadium on Friday as it is being prepared for the Storm-Sharks clash that will determine one grand finalist.
The Juniors have concern over prop Leeson Ah Mau, who returned against Penrith last Friday after a month out with injury but limped off early.
Otherwise they are fit for their knockout against the Broncos in what is the curtainraiser to the top side's meeting with Manly on Saturday night.
A tackle by Storm captain Cameron Smith and Kiwi Jeremy Smith on Broncos forward Sam Thaiday seems sure to attract the attention of the match reviewers today.
Cameron Smith has carry-over points from a previous offence and so will get a ban even if he faces a low-grade charge.
Sea Eagles centre Steve Bell has struggled with a calf-muscle tear suffered against the Dragons and remains in doubt but prop Josh Perry, who suffered a knee problem after they eliminated the Dragons 38-6 in round one of the playoffs, is expected to be all right.
The Eagles will have a boost this week with the expected long-term re-signing of hooker Matt Ballin.
And on Saturday they will enjoy motivation of the sort the Warriors are getting through Ruben Wiki's last games via their veteran Steve Menzies, who is in his last year of 15 in the NRL and is headed to Bradford.
The Aussie bookies give the Warriors a chance. They will wait for the teams to be named before setting odds for the Manly game but have already brought the Warriors in from the A$151 ($182.39) to win the grand final they were on when travelling in 15th place just over two months ago.
They were at A$67 after they made history in becoming the first team from eighth place to beat No 1 in Melbourne last week and are A$6.50 now.
