Warriors 28
Eels 6
KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Warriors' lethal weapon Manu Vatuvei exorcised his Parramatta demons to help the visitors nail down a National Rugby League playoff spot tonight.
Vatuvei's hat-trick led the Warriors to a 28-6 win over the Eels at Parramatta Stadium, booking them a daunting knockout match against either
Manly or Melbourne next weekend.
It capped a big second half of the 2008 season for the Warriors who started woefully, then won eight of their last 10 matches to pip Newcastle for a top-eight spot.
Parramatta hadn't been a happy venue for the Warriors who'd won just one of their nine visits, way back in 1995.
At their previous visit last year, Vatuvei's horror defensive performance was the biggest talking point of the 30-6 defeat.
But tonight the giant Kiwis winger caused the nightmares for his opposite Tony Williams, notching his third try eight minutes after the break as the Warriors shot to an 18-6 advantage.
In-form centre Brent Tate added the polish to the five-tries-to-one victory with a late double to boost the margin.
The Warriors crossed the Tasman knowing victory would be enough to ensure a playoff berth after Brisbane did the right thing in beating Newcastle 24-2.
Assuming the Warriors finish eighth, if Canberra beat the lowly Bulldogs tomorrow, it means a daunting sudden death assignment in either Sydney or Melbourne next Sunday.
Manly are their most likely opponents after beating Penrith 34-16 tonight, while Melbourne need to beat Souths by at least 27 points tomorrow to snatch their third consecutive minor premiership.
Despite winning just three of their 11 away matches this year, the visitors never looked like losing tonight on a rain-soaked surface before a sparse crowd of 5102, befitting their side's ordinary showing.
It was a controlled, error-free display from the Warriors who kicked smartly through Nathan Fien and covered ably for the suspended Wade McKinnon through another sharp performance from fullback Lance Hohaia.
They started with purpose and Vatuvei's first half double - both magnificently converted from the sideline by Michael Witt - gave them a 14-6 lead at the break.
He opened the scoring in the third minute when he slapped down a Fien bomb, got the return pass and bulldozed through two defenders out wide.
The Eels looked flat and most of their promising attacks were spoilt by handling errors or poor kicks.
But they finally got it right on the half-hour mark in a stunning 70m movement which ended with halfback Kris Keating scoring under the posts from a Luke Burt chip.
Jerome Ropati and Hohaia were both denied tries from knock-ons before Vatuvei struck the crucial blow before the break from a Witt cut-out pass.
Any thoughts of an Eels fightback were snuffed out when Vatuvei scored his third when the Warriors spun the ball wide and a Hohaia cut-out pass saw him slide over in the corner.
Their confidence grew as the Eels' shoulders slumped further, with Tate scoring his first from an Aidan Kirk in-pass then sealing victory five minutes from time when he pounced on a grubber.
It ended a forgettable year for the Nathan Cayless-captained Eels who lost 13 of their 24 matches to miss the top-eight for the first time since 2004.
The Warriors camp did its best not to let the off-field drama surrounding fullback Wade McKinnon affect preparations for tonight's match.
McKinnon was handed a three-game suspension after he was found guilty of spitting at touch judge Brett Suttor during last weekend's win over the Penrith Panthers. He will be cleared for action if the Warriors survive next week's sudden-death match and manage to reach the preliminary final.
- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF