League: McKinnon helps Eels to get past new club

Wade McKinnon had some sightseeing and a look around the New Zealand Warriors' set-up in his diary for yesterday.

But, apart from that, the Parramatta rugby league fullback's trip to Auckland at the weekend was much like the other half dozen he has made.

The fact that he will join the Warriors next year as replacement for Leeds-bound Brent Webb didn't make Saturday's clash between the National Rugby League rivals extra special for him.

"Not really, it was just a normal game," McKinnon said after the Eels' 20-12 victory.

More important than the identity of the opposition was the need for Eels to stretch their winning streak to four and maintain their outside chance of a playoff spot.

"We knew it was important for both sides because we both want to be in the eight," he said.

"We knew if we won, we still have a chance of being in the eight, so I just took it like a normal game."

McKinnon, 25, has some of the best statistics among NRL fullbacks.

But the intriguing prospect of a head-to-head clash between him and Webb ended before kickoff, when Webb suffered a recurrence of a hip problem during the warm-up and was replaced.

In front of 14,499 fans, the biggest crowd at Mt Smart Stadium this year, McKinnon produced one clean break in the first half which threatened a try before he was caught and the attack snuffed out.

He showed some other good touches, but was largely consigned to defensive duties in the second half as the Warriors fought hard to overturn an 18-6 halftime deficit.

The performance wasn't the Warriors' best, with turnovers gifting the Eels their first two tries through winger Jarryd Hayne.

But McKinnon said the Warriors' traditional adventurous style was one of the attractions.

He liked to run off the forwards and expected to get plenty of opportunity to do so at his new club.

"I'm really excited," the one-time South Sydney Rabbitoh said of his impending move to Auckland on a three-year contract.

"I like the way they play. They get a lot of off-loads away and I like to be the person pushing for them."

Even against the Eels, "the boys got a few ball away, so I think it will benefit me next year".

Parramatta's victory kept them in touch with the top eight.

But defeat dropped the Warriors to second bottom and meant they face the prospect of having to win all six of the their remaining matches to progress to the playoffs.

While fans and the media might have regularly weighed up the Auckland club's chances of finals football after being docked four points for salary cap breaches, skipper Steve Price said the players hadn't.

Even when their campaign appeared to have turned the corner with a four-match winning streak over June and early July, the post-season wasn't talked about.

Instead, it was a case of sticking to the cliche of a game at a time.

"What we've been saying to you has honestly been happening," Price said.

"It's not something we've been spoken about as a group or as individuals. Right from the start of the year we've said we are not going to worry about that.

"We're just going to concentrate on what we do every week."

- NZPA