Since the demise of the McIntyre system, much of the focus has been on the top four as the holy grail.
But perhaps finishing in the top six will be a better (and more realistic) goal, as teams ranked fifth and sixth are guaranteed home matches in the first week of the playoffs against the seventh and eighth sides.
However, either of these goals will be an uphill struggle.
The bare facts are that four of their six wins this season have come against teams currently sitting below them on the table.
There have been some close calls, slow starts or soft finishes which have consigned them to frustrating defeats against the Sea Eagles, Bulldogs, Tigers and particularly the Sharks.
The Warriors had those games in their hands at various times, before concentration levels slipped.
It is partly a reflection of the NRL - which is one of the most competitive sporting championships - but also shows an Achilles heel of the Warriors.
"We are at a point now where it is not acceptable any more," says Shaun Johnson of their tendency to switch off.
"You can only talk about something so much. As a playing group, there is nothing more frustrating than having to sit in the video room going over the same stuff. We are working hard at it and it is only a matter of time before we start seeing the benefits of it."
Crucial to any successful Warriors campaign is form across the Tasman, as shown in 2002 (first in minor premiership, seven wins in Australia), 2003 (sixth, six wins), 2007, (fourth, five wins, one draw) and 2011 (sixth, six wins).
Some away performances in 2012 have been meritorious, particularly in Melbourne, but two wins from seven matches is not playoff material and those victories came against the two bottom sides.
Still to come are difficult trips to Suncorp Stadium, Brookvale Oval, Dairy Farmers and WIN Stadium.
There have been contributing factors, especially with injuries to key forwards at the start of the season and Kevin Locke and Jerome Ropati throughout the campaign.
Heading into the final stretch, the presence of Micheal Luck and Nathan Friend will be invaluable, especially to shore up the defence - as a team, they are still conceding more than 20 points per match.
"Both on the edge and around the ruck, our defence is improving," says coach Brian McClennan, "though it has fallen away badly in the last two games, when there were pockets that we lost concentration.
"Defending is the hardest part of the game but it is in those tougher periods, when we start to run out of oxygen, that we need to concentrate that little bit harder. We have a goal as a group to play a game where [the opposition] don't score any [tries]."
Attack is less of an issue, with power, pace and precision in equal measure, though they can be profligate in the opposition red zone.
"There are times when we drop away in intensity in the attacking zone," says McClennan.
"In yardage, we are generally pretty good and we get to a good place for our kickers. But sometimes we are not quite aggressive enough when it comes to attacking the line."
A win next week will put them at exactly the same position they were last year (seven wins, eight losses) though Ivan Cleary's men came home with a wet sail, losing just two of their last nine games to finish sixth (32 points).
