KEY POINTS:
The Warriors' continuing winning roll stands to earn them a home playoff spot for the first week of the NRL finals.
Just two more victories from their remaining five games and they will cement a place in the top eight; three should see them in the top four given the huge points differential they are amassing.
They have only one other top-eight side to play, Manly at home in four weeks.
They are away to the rejuvenated Roosters at the weekend, then host the Gold Coast, they travel to Canberra in round 23, play Manly at Mt Smart and end with the Panthers in Penrith.
Realistically, they could win all those, though that would still be unlikely to push them into spots one or two.
The Warriors are plus-111 in points differential, the third-best of the 16 teams, and it seems PD will be the decider of some placings in the playoffs given the compressed nature of the table.
Their big win against the Knights on Saturday pushed the visitors well into the negative.
The Warriors were clinical in beating the Knights, who simply did not have the experience to be able to stop what was a runaway bus. They didn't get their hands on the ball in the first eight minutes and were by then down 12-0.
When captain Steve Price snatched a dropped ball from Kirk Reynoldson and sprinted 60 metres to score, the Knights were done, still five minutes to go to the break, the score 30-4. Good as Price is, a prop should not be able to run 60m in the NRL. Price said he went into overdrive when heading for the try-line.
"I actually had a headache afterwards. I don't know if it was because there was so much working in my body. It cleaned the cobwebs out, that's for sure," he said.
The Warriors never took their foot off the accelerator, withstanding a tough effort from the Knights in the second 40.
Knights coach Brian Smith was missing eight regular first-graders. That, some illness within the team and a first half where they couldn't buy a penalty were all cited as reasons for the loss.
"We've got guys that were sick before the game, we've got three or four blokes that had needles to go out and play plus seven or eight guys that are playing their first year of NRL footy," Smith said.
"They're great individual stories but not when you've got truckloads of them and for too long. You have those terrific nights where they all come out and do the job but doing it all year long is tough."
Smith all but conceded that their playoff hopes were gone, despite the Knights being just four points behind the Warriors on the ladder.
Smith agreed the Warriors were markedly superior to his side. But they enjoyed some help from referee Jared Maxwell, he felt. "I really enjoyed those three penalties in a row," Smith said sarcastically. "To not receive a penalty for whatever that was, I don't know whether I am exaggerating at 60 [minutes] but it was a lifetime for a group of younger blokes having a lash.
"We needed some help and we weren't getting any help from anywhere.".
Coach Ivan Cleary admitted they had won a game they should have won given the Knights' injury woes. He is looking forward to a tougher assignment in Sydney. "Next week is going to be a real test. We are playing the Roosters who are red hot at the moment, so that will be good for us."
