The Warriors’playoff hopes officially ended on Sunday when the Dragons toppled the Titans, putting eighth place out of reach for New Zealand’s NRL club.
The Dragons leapfrogged the Dolphins to move into eighth place after beating Gold Coast 32-16.
They now have 28 points, and the most the 14th-place Warriors can reap from their last two games and a bye is 27 points.
So the Warriors will be playing purely for pride against the Bulldogs but they should have utility Chanel Harris-Tavita back despite a crusher tackle charge.
Eight players – four from each side – were placed on report in the Warriors’ fateful 24-10 loss to the Sea Eagles in Sydney on Friday.
But only Harris-Tavita was charged by the NRL judiciary.
The specialist standoff was thus able to escape suspension by admitting the crusher tackle offence and paying a $3000 fine.
If he contests the charge and is found guilty by the judicial panel he would face a two-match ban which would rule him out of the rest of the regular season. Harris-Tavita faced a $3000 fine because this was his second charge of the season following a $1000 fine for a tripping offence against the Eels a fortnight ago.
While the Warriors have had their fair share of injuries, they have not had a player banned in the NRL season proper.
The Warriors’ vain hopes of making the NRL playoffs disappeared with their defeat to Manly, but coach Andrew Webster is still determined to finish with two wins to honour retiring playmaker Shaun Johnson and other departing players.
Harris-Tavita lost his place in the starting lineup when Johnson and Luke Metcalf returned from injuries against Manly, but remains a handy interchange player with his ability to cover hooker where Freddy Lussick has taken over after Wayde Egan’s elbow problem.
The Warriors may get reinforcements for Friday’s Bulldogs clash in Auckland with centre Ali Leiataua due back from concussion and forward Jackson Ford after a knee strain.
Leiataua – the 21-year-old nephew of Warriors great Ali Lauiti’iti – scored in his last outing against the Dolphins, but Adam Pompey made a solid return at centre against the Sea Eagles. Pompey was denied a try by a Bunker ruling after a powerful run and a big fend, but he also made an error that contributed to a vital Manly try in the second half.
Ford, who can play on the edge or the middle, has been a first-team fixture since joining the Warriors last year and is the club’s top tackler this season with 710. If fit, he is almost certain to return to the match-day 17.
Lussick filled Egan’s role on defence with a team-high 47 tackles against Manly but still needs to develop crisper passing and be more of a threat with ball in hand. Egan averages 52 running metres whereas Lussick ran for 17 on Friday. He did make a handy dab for the try-line against the Sea Eagles. Only a last-gasp knock-on denied the North Sydney native a try against the club his father Jason and brother Darcy once played for.
Johnson’s last game at Mt Smart Stadium where he first played in 2011 should add some spice to an otherwise dead-rubber fixture for the Warriors.
However, the fifth-placed Bulldogs will be of a mind to rewrite the festival farewell script.
Cameron Ciraldo’s much-improved squad will arrive in Auckland in red-hot form after four consecutive wins. They scored five tries – all to their dangerous outside backs – in last Saturday’s 30-10 win over the Dolphins.
The Bulldogs will be conscious they can nail home playoffs advantage if they win every game from here, starting with the Warriors.