Few pundits are giving the Warriors much chance of toppling four-time premiers Penrith, despite boasting home ground advantage at the sold-out Go Media Stadium for Saturday’s do-or-die elimination final.
After resting his players against Canterbury before comfortably accounting for the struggling Dragons, Ivan Cleary’s side should be revitalised and are quite familiar with winning playoff games since making a run to the 2020 decider where they were beaten by Melbourne.
With the losses of State of Origin front-rower Mitch Barnett and promising playmaker Luke Metcalf, it was always going to be difficult for New Zealand to make much noise in the finals series if they managed to cling on to a top-four position and it will be even harder to progress from sixth.
But on the bright side for Warriors fans, their team can play with a degree of freedom after being written off by most commentators and punters around the NRL. They are playing with house money as no one expects anything other than a comprehensive Panthers victory as they aim to make more history with a remarkable fifth straight title.
James Fisher-Harris will be out for revenge after his former teammates got the better of the big bopper back in Round 16 with Ivan Cleary pulling off a smash and grab at Mount Smart, sans his Origin stars who stayed behind in Sydney.
Previously a one-club man, playing over 200 games in the Penrith jersey and an important role in their four straight premierships, Fisher-Harris would love nothing more than ending, or at least putting the brakes on his former club’s dynasty.
Coach Andrew Webster also tasted premiership success at the foot of the mountains, winning the 2021 and 2022 grand finals as Cleary’s assistant.
Even with a first week exit from the playoffs, 2025 should be considered a success for the former reserve grader considering the club’s injury toll but the Warriors mentor will not be throwing in the towel so easily.
Andrew Webster is confident of knocking off the premiers (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
“It’s a great feeling, everyone put in so much hard work to make sure you get a ticket to the playoffs and you can’t win it without getting a ticket,” Webster said in the lead-up to Saturday’s 6 v 7 clash.
“So we’re here and we’re going to make the most of it and enjoy it. Yeah, I just want to clarify, we don’t think New Zealand has (written us off).
“I think we’ve become everyone else’s second favourite team. I don’t know if that belief’s there (in Australian media) but we know there’s a belief here and there’s a belief from every single person at Mount Smart on the weekend.
“So from the top of the country to the bottom, that’s a great feeling. Rather than worrying about how much everyone thinks we can’t do it, we’re just more focused on the quality of the game than we can play.”
There’s still menace in the Warriors’ pack, as well as plenty of strike in the backs with the likes of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak all capable of putting on quick points if the halves pairing of Chanel Harris-Tavita and Tanah Boyd can go to work and control the game.
There’s no denying New Zealand come into the sudden-death clash as outsiders and will need a mighty effort to prove the common wisdom wrong and emerge victorious to progress to a semi-final.
Everything is stacked against them but the Warriors will run onto a sold-out Go Media Stadium to a boisterous atmosphere with a pretty sizeable chip on their shoulder.
The reward for either Penrith or New Zealand is moving on to week two but making the trip to Accor Stadium in front of up to 80,000 baying Canterbury supporters will be challenging even without Stephen Crichton in the line-up.
Will Fisher-Harris and Webster get the last laugh to send the four-time premiers packing from the 2025 finals series?