KEY POINTS:
It's often said that you need to lose a grand final to understand how to win a grand final. The same could be true of finals football as a whole.
For more than half of the Warriors side that went down 12-10 to Parramatta on Friday night, it was their first taste of finals football. Only Steve Price, Ruben Wiki, Wade McKinnon, Logan Swann, Todd Byrne, Wairangi Koopu, Michael Witt and Nathan Fien had sampled it before but even Fien had only the merest whiff in 2004.
It meant that, of all the top eight sides, the Warriors had the fewest number of players with finals experience. Likewise, it was the first time Ivan Cleary had ventured to the playoffs as a first-grade coach.
"Half of our side has never played finals football before, so I'm sure they will be better for the experience," Cleary said after the loss to the Eels before adding, "if teams do the right thing and we get another game next week.
"Everything is a bit faster and the defensive intensity of both sides was really good.
"We just failed to take a couple of chances and they got a couple of cheap penalties to get them out of trouble when they needed it. In these types of games, when you get the chances you need to take them. We probably didn't."
It was perhaps ironic, then, given his relative experience, that the most wasteful was Swann. The 31-year-old opted to go for the line himself in the 56th minute with his side leading 4-0 when he had two players better positioned outside.
Although the Warriors were enjoying six repeat sets, the fact they couldn't convert in that period was the turning point of the match. When the Eels repelled the home side for the sixth time, some jumped and skipped around like they had just won the grand final.
"We knew that was a definite turning point and it turned out to be that way," Eels captain Nathan Cayless said. "I think the team showed a lot of maturity [in that period when we were under pressure]. But we've got a lot of experienced players in our team - players with finals experience, State of Origin and test match experience."
The intensity of Friday night's match, particularly in an error-ridden but brutal opening 40 minutes, was a graphic illustration of the difference between finals football and regular season games.
Sam Rapira was dazed by the first tackle of the match, winger Michael Crockett was left sore and vomiting after trying to put a big hit on Jarryd Hayne in the 17th minute, Simon Mannering played with a broken bone in his hand and Wiki needed five injections in his troublesome ribs to get him through the match.
It wasn't for the faint-hearted and the mistakes were the result of the stakes.
Winger Patrick Ah Van was the biggest culprit, particularly in the second half when the game was in the balance. His hands have been a liability in recent times, especially when trying to field a bouncing ball, and it left many wishing the previously mistake-prone but injured Manu Vatuvei had been on duty.
Ah Van was dragged from the field with 10 minutes remaining after his knock-on 10m from the line led to the match-winning try to Hayne.
Cleary could not afford to have him on the park and, assuming the Warriors get through to play again next weekend, it's hard to see him playing much part in the rest of the campaign.
Apart from a few bumps and bruises, all 17 players should be available to play if the Warriors get a second life. A win over the Eels would have handed them another home game but they were left contemplating another road trip to either Sydney or Townsville. It wasn't something that particularly worried tireless lock Micheal Luck.
"I think in the last month or two we're not so worried about playing away any more," he said. "I think we struggled a bit at the start of the season but we're preparing a bit differently and it's working."
The confidence is well founded. In their past seven away games, the Warriors have won four, lost two and drawn against the Roosters.
The Warriors have the appetite for success, as well as a strong defence and a slick attacking game. Now they hope they have the experience.
