KEY POINTS:
Even the Warriors' hard-core fan base might have been forgiven a few anxious moments as the local lads took the field at Mt Smart on Friday evening for the second game of the NRL playoffs.
In simply reaching the final eight, the team had overcome extraordinary odds. After injuries to inspirational captain Steve Price, attacking fullback Wade McKinnon and winger Manu Vatuvei, who scored 15 tries in 15 outings; and McKinnon's suspension for some ill-advised expectoration, they were never going to do it the easy way.
Then, in the business end of the competition, they delivered their fans a heartstopping last-minute victory and gave the other contenders a wake-up call, snatching a never-say-die try from the Melbourne Storm on their home turf. Sure, it took most of the week for fans' pulses and blood pressures to return to normal after Michael Witt waited for what seemed like half an hour before dotting the ball down. But dot it down he did, crowning possibly the best win in the club's history and becoming the first side to enter the finals in eighth place and beat the top-ranked team.
On top of this, Friday night's performance must fill even the most sceptical observer with optimism that the club can repeat - and then top - the glories of 2002. It was a triumph for the open-hearted spirit with which the boys have always approached the game and a sign that they can build on the miraculous to achieve the impossible. The Warriors need not fear failure. Indeed, they need fear nothing but the fear of failure. Let nothing stop them now.
