Panthers 32 Warriors 32
In the realms of possibility, the 13th-place Warriors leading seventh-place Penrith at hostile CUA Stadium by 20-6 would have been a credibility stretch.
Throw in a storyline that included Joel Moon, an off-season acquisition not widely considered Ivan Cleary's best piece of business, scoring a first half hat-trick and you're
beginning to enter the world of fantasy.
Another Moon try, a Lewis Brown score, a 32-6 lead away from home for the worst attacking team in the competition - no one believes that, surely.
But there you had it. With some spirited goal-line defence and one of their more fluid attacking efforts of 2009, the Warriors had worked themselves into an unassailable position.
Did we say unassailable position? Nah, this is the '09 Warriors.
What followed was the most guileless half an hour of league you will ever likely see. The Warriors fell off tackles, they conceded penalties, they let the Panthers' dangermen run at them, they pushed passes and had the messiest collective brain explosion of the season - perhaps the decade.
The Panthers, courtesy of a Wade McKinnon spill and another stupid penalty, levelled with a penalty with 90 seconds left. Unbelievably, they let the Panthers within range in the final seconds too.
To golden point, where Lance Hohaia virtually landed a field goal on top of the crossbar but it bounced back into play. With the Panthers scrambling the Warriors, you guessed it, gave away another penalty.
In the second spell, Stacey Jones had a 'golden' opportunity to win it but snatched his effort badly. The last 30 seconds? Madness it is impossible to describe.
The portents were not good from the start. Penrith opened up the Warriors defence all too easily, Michael Jennings coming back on the angle at speed, shredding what remained of a broken line.
However, the Warriors, perhaps freed from the 'mathematical possibility' chains (although, just whisper it, they are still a mathematical possibility to make the eight) ramped up the attacking intensity like they have seldom managed this season.
Jones, having announced he would not return in 2010, chipped to Manu Vatuvei's wing and in the ensuing tussle, the ball bounced loose for Moon to pounce.
A Sam Rapira bust and quick play the ball shortly after laid the platform for a chain of hands that landed in the left centre's grasp and he grounded it with three bent blades of grass to spare.
If he thought that was a bit weird, his night was to get a whole lot spookier.
Trailing a breakout that seemed certain to see either Vatuvei or, fittingly, Jones cross the line, the club stalwarts overplayed their hands a bit and a trailing Moon picked up some tasty scraps for his third try.
Halftime put no dampener on the full Moon party, with him picking up another loose ball, this time following a Hohaia grubber. Four tries and he'd probably made a sum total of 10 metres, reminiscent to followers of another code, of Greg Cornelson's famous effort against the All Blacks at Eden Park 31 years ago.
When Brown barged over soon after it was lights out under the Blue Mountains ... or so it should have been. What followed was nothing short of embarrassing.
Penrith 32 (M. Jennings 2, S. Elford, L. Walsh, F. Puletua tries; M. Gordon 6 goals) Warriors (J. Moon 4, L. Brown tries; K. Locke 6 goals). Halftime: 6-20.
