KEY POINTS:
The Warriors are likely to take the same players who lost the qualifying final against Parramatta to Townsville for their match against the Cowboys next weekend.
The Storm go straight to week three after beating the Broncos 40-0 in Melbourne yesterday, as do Manly who disposed of Souths 30-6 at Brookvale on Saturday, while those two losers are eliminated.
The Eels' 12-10 victory in Auckland earns them a home final against the Bulldogs next weekend, the Dogs also losing late and by a two-point margin, downed 20-18 by a Cowboys side, whose work was dominated by halfback Johnathan Thurston and fullback Matt Bowen.
The Warriors cannot lose again next weekend or their season is over, too. Nor can they earn another home game if they win, first stop Brookvale Oval to play Manly.
The finals system sets the Townsville game for Sunday afternoon and the Eels-Dogs clash for Saturday night but the Cowboys traditionally play on Saturday nights, because of the distance their fans travel - the NRL can reverse the timings.
The Warriors said yesterday that they would fly over two days in advance, a day earlier than usual, to eliminate the travel factor and ensure a good preparation.
They will go to North Queensland with some confidence after running the Eels close. As well, they beat the Cowboys 34-14 at Mt Smart during the normal season and the return match in Townsville was lost 12-18, when Nathan Fien was denied a try for an obstruction call, one which ref's boss Robert Finch later admitted was wrong.
The Cowboys will be without rampaging prop Carl Webb, who suffered a calf tear and limped off with the assistance of trainers 68 minutes into Saturday night's victory over the Bulldogs.
They are also sweating on the match reviewer's call on a tackle by forward Jacob Lillyman on Dogs fullback Luke Patten, which was called high and put on report.
Wing Patrick Ah Van has a hamstring strain but otherwise the Warriors are injury-free.
But Epalahame Lauaki may also cop a judiciary charge after a shot delivered when he came late to a tackle on PJ Marsh.
The rash of errors at Mt Smart on Friday meant both teams put in more than 300 tackles - never a good mark to pass. And the differential of the Warriors' 378 to the Eels' 327 tells why they lost and of how tough it will be to get over the physical encounter, travel, then back up in a stadium where the "black-out" of Friday will be a "blue and white-out" for the Cowboys, who had 24,004 packed into their stadium on Saturday.
A crowd of 19,785 was at Manly to watch Souths stick with the Eagles for three-quarters of the game then tire from too much defence and get run down - the tackle count 251 to the Rabbitohs' 334.
In Townsville, the Cowboys made 262 tackles and the Dogs 283. But there was a big imbalance in the second half, as the Bulldogs were repeatedly pinged for trying to slow the game - the penalty count 12-4 against them.
The lesson from the weekend is that the Warriors cannot start nervously, nor can they provide the Cowboys with knock-ons and penalties and so do so much defence they run out of gas on attack.
Coach Ivan Cleary and his team will have noted the huge influence that Thurston and Bowen have on the Cowboys' game - the halfback setting up the majority of their winning plays, the fullback feeding off that and almost uncatchable in broken play. It was Bowen's tackle to take Dogs wing Hazem El Masri over the sideline two minutes before the end that saved the game on Saturday.
The Warriors may well want to play tight given the inexperience in the opposition pack - they are already missing regulars Luke O'Donnell, Shane Tronc, Steve Southern (injured) and Sione Faumuina (suspended), adding weight to Webb's loss.
Cleary said he was proud of the effort on Friday in a really tough game.
They had failed to take their chances which you cannot afford to do in finals and they had gifted the Eels cheap penalties to get them out of trouble. "We'll be better for the run and better for the experience."
There were certainly plenty of "what-ifs". What if Michael Witt had converted their first try, what if Todd Byrne had grounded the ball in the first half, what if Logan Swann had got over the line or passed to Simon Mannering outside him when held up in the second spell? They should have banked that experience and learned from it.
In other finals news, Manly backrower Glenn Stewart and wing Chris Hicks suffered ankle strains against Souths but are expected to be okay when they play again.
On the international front, Benji Marshall is out of contention for the Kiwis at the end of this season after undergoing further surgery on his right shoulder. He is in a sling and out of action for five weeks.
The Kiwis convenor of selectors Howie Tamati has confirmed that Dragons centre Chase Stanley has committed to New Zealand and will be named in the train-on squad to be released this week for the test with the Kangaroos on October 14.
Born in Bankstown, Sydney, the nephew of former All Black Joe Stanley is just 18 and still at Endeavour High School.
Souths backrower David Kidwell will unexpectedly be available after making his comeback from long-term leg injury in the final at Brookvale.
