In what was essentially a dead-rubber, the Warriors finished the 2025 NRL regular season with a sloppy 27-26 loss to Manly at 4 Pines Park.
The finals-bound Warriors scored the fastest try in NRL history – James Fisher-Harris dotting down after just nine seconds after the Sea Eagles flubbed the kick-off – but that’s about as good as it got for the visitors.
Manly scored three tries in the next 15 minutes and led 26-10 with half an hour to play but made hard work of closing out the win in an ugly contest featuring 30 errors.
The Warriors had an even share of possession and led the all run metres (1,685 to 1,578), post-contact metres (560 to 554), average set distance (38.31 to 32.88), line-break (seven to four) and tackle-break counts (41 to 35) counts – but that was not enough to prevent the sixth-placed outfit’s fifth loss in seven games.
Daly occurrence
There was something hauntingly poetic about Daly Cherry-Evans’ field goal proving the difference in his 352nd and final appearance for Manly.
DCE has tormented the Warriors since scoring a try in the 2011 grand final as a rookie halfback. One of the great field goal kickers, the one-pointer – off his left foot, no less – was the sixth of his career against the Warriors (including two golden point match-winners).
Cherry-Evans scored 10 tries in 23 games for the Sea Eagles against the Warriors and chalked up 15 wins, one draw and seven losses – his second-best record against any rival club.
Cherry-Evans’ strike was the 71st field goal kicked against the Warriors, who have landed 53 themselves since 1995.
Where the 2025 Wahs rank
Despite their late-season fadeout, the Warriors’ campaign rates among their best on several metrics.
Qualifying for only their 10th finals series, this is the seventh time the Warriors have finished sixth or higher in 31 seasons.
Their tally of 14 wins has been bettered by only four of their predecessors (the 2010 and ’11 combinations also won 14 regular-season games).
The Warriors’ 20.66 points conceded per game is the 10th-best defensive performance in their history, but their 21.54 points scored per game is 11th. Interestingly, despite seemingly struggling on the attacking side of the ball, it’s the second-most points the Warriors have scored in the past 11 seasons.
Encouragingly, the Warriors went deep into the finals the previous two times they landed sixth, reaching a preliminary final in 2003 and a grand final in 2011.
Runnin’ Roger
Ageless winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck continued his metre-eating madness in the final round, running for a game-high 236 metres – the eighth time in nine games he has topped 230.
RTS finished the regular season second in the NRL for average run metres with 219.1, behind only Penrith’s Origin and Test fullback Dylan Edwards (225.2).
Meanwhile, Tuivasa-Sheck topped the competition for average post-contact metres with 72.7 – edging out former teammate and Cronulla prop Addin Fonua-Blake (71.9).
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is the Warriors’ next most prolific ball-carrier in both departments, averaging 186.2 metres (11th in the NRL) and 58.9 post-contact metres (20th).
Panthers’ post-season prowess
The Warriors head into their elimination final against four-time defending premiers Penrith as rank outsiders, despite their home-ground advantage.
The Panthers have won nine of their last 10 against the Warriors, a run that includes only two matches at Mount Smart Stadium – but one of those was an Origin-depleted 28-18 upset in Round 16 this year.
On a 12-match winning streak in finals matches, Penrith is also 3-0 in the post-season against the Warriors – winning the teams’ 2003 preliminary final (28-18), 2018 elimination final (27-12) and 2023 qualifying final (32-6).
The Warriors have a record of nine wins and 12 losses in 21 finals games since first making the playoffs in 2001. After winning the 2011 preliminary final in Melbourne, they have chalked up just one victory in five finals matches – their 2023 semi-final demolition of Newcastle.
This is just the fifth finals match the Warriors have hosted. They beat eighth-placed Canberra as minor premiers in 2002 (36-20), lost a qualifying final to Parramatta in 2007 (12-10), thumped Sydney Roosters at the semi-final stage in 2008 (30-13) and blew the Knights away in their semi two years ago (40-10).
Number crunchers
As well as RTS, a handful of Warriors head into the finals on the back of industrious performances in a losing effort against Manly:
- Erin Clark produced perhaps his most impressive performance yet statistically in a stellar campaign, making 23 runs for 194 metres with a game-high nine tackle-breaks, popping six offloads and toiling for 41 tackles.
- Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad churned through 193 metres on 21 carries, on top of nabbing just his second try and third try assist of the season.
- James Fisher-Harris backed up his record-breaking try with 18 runs for 155 metres and 36 tackles.
- Sam Healey’s eye-catching attacking performance, scoring a try and making nine runs for 84 metres, was complemented by a team-high 42 tackles.
- Dallin Watene-Zelezniak partially atoned for his defensive shortcomings with two tries, three line-breaks and 17 runs for 180 metres.