KEY POINTS:
Mental application will be the winning factor at Mt Smart Stadium tomorrow night after a week of distractions for both the Gold Coast Titans and NZ Warriors.
The stand-down of Warriors wing Michael Crockett after allegations of sexual misconduct had a matcher at the Titans - their secondrower Anthony Laffranchi in court this week for a date to be set for a trial on sexual assault charges. Both players deny any wrong-doing.
The Warriors have been sweating on the fitness of boom fullback Wade McKinnon, who has scored seven tries in seven games, after he suffered an ankle injury last weekend.
McKinnon has watched trainings from the sideline but is expected to play. A scan on Wednesday showed no serious damage. He needed to rest it and his situation was "wait and see", said coach Ivan Cleary.
At the Titans it is bench prop Ian Donnelly (thigh) and centre Mat Rogers (knee), who are in doubt. They are to be given until the last minute before the team travel today to clear fitness tests, but two other players have been put on standby: former Warrior David Myles, who has played just two games for the Titans this season and Josh Graham. Both are centres, which shows the dearth of forward depth at the Gold Coast.
It is up front where the Warriors should win this game. Luke Bailey is the Titans' best go-forward man and sixth-best in the competition according to NRL statistics. Warriors captain Steve Price is the best. Last weekend Price made 27 runs for 323m, phenomenal for a prop. More, he is never "turtled" on his back, always providing quick ball.
With Sam Rapira growing into the starting prop role and Ruben Wiki behaving like a prop/centre, the Warriors enjoy massive punch early on.
Wiki's chase-down on the Roosters wing John Williams last weekend indicated the 33-year-old still has the gas of a back.
"It's all in the mind," he said of that feat. He's still enjoying his football immensely and said he was as excited about this run into finals as he was when it first happened for him in Canberra in 1994.
The NRL stats yesterday provided figures that show the Warriors' bench has more impact than any other in the NRL. Nathan Fien kicks more than any other bench player and produces more try-assists, Epalahame Lauaki makes more tackle breaks and provides more off-loads than any other bench player and those two and Evarn Tuimavave and Wairangi Koopu play more minutes than do other interchange players.
Of Lauaki, coach Ivan Cleary said they had been expecting big things from him all year and he was starting to deliver. In the last few weeks Lauaki had reached the fitness levels they'd wanted from him.
"When you're down 16-0 you're looking for something from the bench and they provided that," Cleary said.
The coach admitted he was a bit concerned about the amount of fuel the team had burned in the 90-minute game against the Roosters last Sunday and how they would back up. He has gone lighter than usual in trainings this week.
But the ferocity of that game would help them in the run to finals and further.
"I'm sure we'll be better off having gone through it. That's the sort of speed games get played at at finals time."
The Roosters rattled them with their fast start last weekend, Cleary said, and that may have been the reason their kicking game slumped from previous weeks. Their organisation was off in terms of getting the ball to the kickers and protecting them and that was a team problem, not just the kickers having an off-day.
The 8-2 penalty count in that game - and the fact they have had no second-half penalties in Sydney games - still rankles and the coach and players would like to see a big crowd getting vocal on Saturday night.
"We don't want to make visiting teams feel welcome," Cleary admitted.
They have the chance here to make a statement to the other finals contenders - you don't want to be playing the Warriors in Auckland. Hold a top-four spot, and their first playoff is at home.
Win this in style and they corner lots of mental advantage for that first playoff game, regardless who they face.
* The Titans have extended the contract of their coach John Cartwright, who was signed through 2009, to the end of 2011. They are still in discussions with fullback Chris Walker who is on a one-year deal and is out of this game with a hamstring problem.
Would-be Titans wing Brian Carney, who quit the club without playing a game, will start his third international for the Irish rugby team against Scotland this week in a bid to earn selection for the World Cup.
Tigers centre Paul Whatuira has signed with Huddersfield for three seasons but his contract allows him to get out after one if he doesn't like England.
