All of a sudden the Warriors' match tomorrow night is one of the most intriguing of the year.
What had loomed as a routine home victory for the reigning premiers against an injury-hit Warriors side now appears to pose a remarkable number of unknowns.
All of them regard the Storm.
With nothing to play for, how will they play? Who will line up? Who will cry off? Will anyone turn up to watch? What will happen when it comes time for the post-match interviews?
Will players be asked the hard questions? In the often sycophantic world of television, you can bet they won't be.
"How about your goal kicking tonight Cam Smith?" will likely be the standard TV fare.
But under the bowels of the stadium where the fierce Aussie print hacks lurk, you can bet the gloves will be off.
Through it all the Warriors will be mere bit-part players.
They'll either smash a dispirited Storm side, or be thrashed by an indignant - overpaid as it turns out - bunch of superstars.
Either way, the Warriors have plenty of reasons to be relaxed. Their salary cap drama days are behind them.
Chief executive Wayne Scurrah has resisted calls to comment on the situation. It may be unsaid, but you can take it as read that the Warriors have no salary-cap skeletons in the closet.
In a quiet moment pre-season, Scurrah confessed to the Herald that the club's cap issues these days revolve around securing enough quality talent on which to spend their allowance.
Obscuring salary payments - as they did when former boss Mick Watson came back from a recruiting trip to Australia wondering just what he'd done when both Ruben Wiki and Steve Price unexpectedly succumbed to his overtures - is no longer part of the Warriors' operating policy.
Scurrah has often pledged the club is squeaky clean, and there is no reason not to believe him.
But other clubs will not be resting so easily after the NRL handed the Storm the harshest penalties imaginable, barring expulsion.
The only mystery and intrigue surrounding the Warriors regards their opponent.
What will happen tomorrow night? Who knows. But, as usual, there is never a dull day in the NRL.
Would we have it any other way?
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Opinion by
All of a sudden the Warriors' match tomorrow night is one of the most intriguing of the year.
What had loomed as a routine home victory for the reigning premiers against an injury-hit Warriors side now appears to pose a remarkable number of unknowns.
All of them regard the Storm.
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