KEY POINTS:
The Broncos' 24-2 victory over Newcastle in Brisbane last night means the Warriors will run on to the field at Parramatta tonight knowing the eighth and final playoff spot is theirs if they win.
Sufficient motivation, you would think, to drive them to victory over a team and
at a venue where they have had little success over the years.
If the Vodafone Warriors win tonight and the Bulldogs can manage to beat the Raiders in Canberra tomorrow, the New Zealanders will shift up to seventh spot.
It will not be until the finishing positions are determined by the end of the round tomorrow night that teams will know their opponents in week one of the finals, the game time and the venue.
Victory tonight means the Warriors will face either the Sharks, Sea Eagles or champions Storm away.
Newcastle are gone from finals contention after last night's loss.
Brisbane's victory means coach Wayne Bennett will contest his 19th finals series in 21 years at the club before he shifts to St George for 2009, and on current form and injury-free, the Broncos are a real threat.
One thing is clear for the Warriors: lose tonight and they're gone.
Parramatta has never been a happy hunting ground for the Auckland-based franchise, who have won just once in nine games there, and that in their inaugural year of 1995.
Since then, there have been some thumping losses - most recently 30-6 last season, 48-18 in 2004 and 56-12 in the club's first-ever finals appearance in 2001.
The Warriors have some momentum thanks to the big win over Penrith last weekend but suffered a disrupted preparation due to the spitting charge against fullback Wade McKinnon, with both him and Lance Hohaia running at the back in training until his fate was known. The case has no doubt taken some focus from his teammates and the task ahead of them. It is a let-down they can ill afford at this time of year.
Hohaia was in good form prior to McKinnon's return from knee surgery and offers acceleration around the ruck but does not have McKinnon's kick-return and line-breaking ability or his flat-out speed.
Coach Ivan Cleary has taken halfback Grant Rovelli and second-rower Epalahame Lauaki to Sydney, and a decision on the make-up of the bench will be made today. It seems likely Rovelli will stay, with Lauaki and either Wairangi Koopu or Logan Swann not required.
The man to drop from the Eels bench is rookie Tim Robinson.
Watching sideline for Parramatta will be hooker Mark Riddell (knee) and lock Daniel Wagon (ribs), centres Ben Smith (knee) and Joel Reddy (hamstring). Riddell is going to England for 2009, as is Robinson's elder brother Chad, and Wagon is retiring.
The Eels, despite being studded with talent proven to international level, have been lacking consistency both individually and as a team.
Two Kiwis props, Nathan Cayless and Fuifui Moimoi, and seasoned star Aussie second-rower Nathan Hindmarsh provide pack power. In the backs Jarryd Hayne, Luke Burt, Krisnan Inu and Tony Williams are all capable of line breaks and solo efforts that produce long-range tries.
The trouble for the Eels is that of all those players, just Cayless has been performing well. The others have been struggling to achieve, let alone surpass, their proven abilities.
The trouble for the Warriors is that all that talent might just fire for a change.
NRL finals - week one:
Top four sides have home advantage:
Friday 9.30: Team four plays team five.
Saturday 8.30: Team three plays team six.
Saturday 10.30pm: Team two plays team seven.
Sunday 6pm: Team one plays team eight.