KEY POINTS:
Wade McKinnon's ankle is okay, Micheal Luck escaped the judiciary and so the Warriors will field the same side against the Titans at Mt Smart on Saturday that played out the extraordinary draw with the Roosters last weekend.
The coach and team, rebuffed in their complaints about the sending-off of Simon Mannering and a home crowd-induced bias against them in their last two games in Sydney, will be hoping for a bumper turn-out.
The crowd average across 10 home games this season is 11,302, below break-even for the club.
The run of seven wins and a draw from their last nine games, plus ticket deals and marketing giveaways by their best mate the Mad Butcher, will hopefully drive that up on Saturday night as they seek a playoffs berth at the same venue.
The Roosters crowd rode ref Shayne Hayne to an 8-2 penalty count against the Warriors on Sunday. Refs' boss Robert Finch has admitted the Warriors should have been awarded a penalty in extra time. But he dismissed coach Ivan Cleary's complaint about the sin-binning, saying he had asked every NRL referee if it was justified and every one had said they would have sent Mannering to the bin too.
"It's quite blatant because the ball carrier is on his back, already tackled, and the tackler is still clawing at the ball," Finch said.
"The referees don't pluck these decisions out of the air.
"The referee had called an end to the tackle as well. I'll give the player the benefit of the doubt in that he may not have heard that call, because there was a lot of noise, but there was no doubt the tackle was over before the ball was dragged loose. It was a justified sin-binning."
Luck was charged with a grade-one dangerous throw for a lifting tackle on wing John Williams, pleaded guilty and escapes penalty because of his clear record. This will be his 45th consecutive game in his second year for the club.
McKinnon, who struggled with an ankle problem after a tackle late in the first half on Sunday, has recovered and will play. So the Warriors retain the same 17 for a fifth straight game and one changed little from that which beat the Titans 22-6 on the Gold Coast in round 16.
The Titans use the side that beat Wests Tigers 30-14 last weekend on the Gold Coast, minus bench player Clint Amos, who suffered a cheekbone fracture last weekend.
At Cararra they have won seven of 10 games, losing only to the Cowboys, Bulldogs and Warriors. They are far less successful when not at home, beating just Penrith in round four and the Tigers in round 14 and losing their other seven away games.
Mt Smart Stadium, 7.30pm Saturday
WARRIORS
1. Wade McKinnon
2. Michael Crockett
3. Jerome Ropati
4. Simon Mannering
5. Manu Vatuvei
6. Michael Witt
7. Grant Rovelli
8. Sam Rapira
9. George Gatis
10. Steve Price (c)
11. Ruben Wiki
12. Logan Swann
13. Micheal Luck
Reserves: Wairangi Koopu, Evarn Tuimavave, Epalahame Lauaki, Nathan Fien.
TITANS
1. Preston Campbell
2. Jake Webster
3. Mat Rogers
4. Brett Delaney
5. Smith Samau
6. Josh Lewis
7. Scott Prince (c)
8. Luke Bailey (c)
9. Nathan Friend
10. Michael Hodgson
11. A. Laffranchi
12. Mark Minichiello
13. Luke O'Dwyer
Reserves: Daniel Conn, Ian Donnelly, Gavin Cooper, Luke Swain.
