The Other Warriors: Finals Footy
NSW Cup Finals Footy Leggo!
The NSW Cup Warriors came off an impressive 48 - 12 win over the North Sydney Bears on Sunday to sneak into eighth place and secure a finals berth in their maiden year. The NSW Cup finals start this coming weekend with the eighth placed Warriors taking on the fifth placed Mounties in a knockout game on Sunday at 2pm Sydney time. All the NSW Cup finals are played at Leichhardt Oval this weekend.
The Warriors have a definite chance if the likes of NRL experienced players such as Chad Townsend and Feleti Mateo are not needed for the Warriors NRL side. Townsend was instrumental in the Warriors win last weekend nailing all eight conversions. Mateo also put his mark on the game scoring a try and troubling the Bears defense all game.
It'll a big ask for the Warriors to topple Mounties who beat them 42-22 back in round 9, the round 20 result was even worse for the Warriors who went down 42-4.
Junior Warriors Playoff Hopes
Due to their huge points differential the Junior Warriors have leapfrogged their way from 11th to 7th spot on the NYC Ladder with a 28-12 win over the Gold Coast Titans. They now sit equal with three other teams on 28 competition points with only their points differential keeping them in the eight.
They take on the Panthers in their final game of the season who are also sitting on 28 points, just one place behind the Warriors in 8th position. A win for either team will secure their place in the final series while a loss may seem them miss out all together.
There are three teams who could possibly keep the Warriors out of the eight if they were to lose this weekend against the Panthers. The Rabbitohs and Storm both sit on 28 points and win to either team will end the Warriors season.
The Rabbitohs are taking on the third placed Roosters while the Storm take on the fourth placed Broncos. You'd like to back the teams higher up the ladder but this is Under 20's football and anything can happen.
If both the Rabbitohs and the Storm lose, the Warriors could still miss out on eighth place if the 11th placed Sea Eagles on 27 competition points win their game against the 12th placed Cowboys.
Basically the Warriors need to win, and if they do, they will continue the Junior Warriors record of playing finals footy every year since the competitions started in 2008.