The Warriors will look to finish their season on a high after being knocked out of top eight contention last week.
In 2020, the Warriors lived and died by belief.
Over the past eight weeks, the club has been one of the NRL's form teams, backing themselves at both ends of the field to get the job done. For the most part, they were rewarded for their belief.
But in theirheartbreaking loss against the Cronulla Sharks on Sunday night, which saw them eliminated from finals contention, chancing their arm only led to questions of 'what if?'.
Leading the game 14-12 with about 15 minutes to play, the Warriors were awarded a penalty in a kickable position. The call was made to forgo a chance at two points and keep the ball in hand to try and score a try, and the set ended with Kodi Nikorima kicking it dead in goal.
"I changed my mind three times in the space of 30 seconds," Warriors coach Todd Payten said of the situation. "I think the message went down to take the two, then we changed our minds and said to let the players back themselves. It didn't work out but we got ourselves into this position, being in finals contention, by backing ourselves and we live and die by that."
Both sides then traded errors and un threatening sets, before a penalty against Warriors lock Jazz Tevaga for a shoulder charge allowed the Sharks to kick into an attacking position. They subsequently got a late set restart within a metre of the try-line and sent lock Toby Rudolf over in the following set.
Reclaiming the lead in the 74th minute, the Sharks went on to close it out through a try to winger Ronaldo Mulitalo less than five minutes later, sinking the Warriors playoffs hopes.
Sure, in an alternate reality the Warriors might have kicked the penalty and gone on to close out the game; they also may have kicked the goal and still gone on to lose - hindsight is a wonderful thing.
However, the decision was far from the sole factor in the end result.
The Warriors bid for a spot in the playoffs was ended by the Cronulla Sharks. Photo / Photosport
As they had done for most of the season, the Warriors were slow starters and struggled to slow down the Cronulla attack up the middle. The Sharks dominated the early possession and field position, and eventually made the Warriors pay.
"They didn't have to work hard for anything in that first 15-20 minutes coming out of their own end – that played right into their hands and we were two tries down," Payten said.
"To our credit, like we have done for many weeks now, we found a way and fought ourselves back into the contest, but I thought we probably got what we deserved in the end."
While their playoff hopes died with the loss to Cronulla, the Warriors have two games left in their campaign against formidable opponents in the Canberra Raiders and Manly Sea Eagles.
With nothing left to play for, Payten issued the side a challenge for the run home.
"We've become a team that are tough and committed," Payten said.
"We have a couple of weeks left where we have to make sure we don't do away with the good work we've done up until now.
"I'm very proud of this organisation. I feel like we've become a team over the past eight weeks and it has showed in the way that we've played. It's not just me; all out staff have done their jobs, the players have lived up to their end of the bargain and we're getting performances we should be proud of as a club."
