Match Preview

They sit equal with the Sharks on 32 points but ahead by 71 on points differential and a home final in Townsville beckons provided they can hold their nerve in the remaining three games.

The Warriors have shown some positive signs against qualty opposition in the past month but it doesn't get any tougher than facing the top two sides in the next fortnight.

If they can hold their heads high against the Cowboys and Panthers and then finish with a win in front of the Mt Smart faithful in Round 25 there will be plenty of positives to take into next season.

This match is again potentially the last time the Hunters will play at their home-away-from-home on the Gold Coast in 2022, with plans to return to Papua New Guinea next week for the last game of the regular season still tentatively placed and pending approval from the QRL. 

The Hunters come into Round 19 on the back of a nail-biting 23-23 draw with the Townsville Blackhawks last weekend and will take plenty of confidence from that result. 

With Latrell Mitchell causing havoc at the back and Alex Johnston scoring tries for fun, South Sydney have won six of their past seven matches (including one Golden Point defeat) to find themselves just two points outside the top four.

The 2021 Telstra Premiership Grand Final rematch comes in the midst of a challenging run for the cardinal and myrtle, with games against the Cowboys (second) and Roosters (eighth) set to follow Thursday's heavyweight showdown.

After making the finals in 2021 the Titans have had a huge fall from grace, winning just three games all season and scrambling to avoid a second wooden spoon in four years.

The Sea Eagles find themselves two games out of the eight on the back of three straight losses and must turn things around quickly if they hope to be part of the finals action.

When these sides met in Round 6 it was Manly racing to a 24-4 half-time lead before taking their foot off the gas in the second term and hanging on to win 26-18.

Currently ninth on 22 competition points, the Raiders meet the Dragons (11th), Knights (13th), Sea Eagles (10th) and Wests Tigers (15th) in their last four matches and will need at least three wins as well as a significant boost to their for-and-against which sits at -33.

The Dragons' narrow loss to Cronulla leaves them two games outside the eight with a points differential of -130, meaning they would need four massive wins to have any hope of sneaking in.

When these sides met six weeks ago and it was the Dragons prevailing 12-10 in a controversial finish at WIN Stadium.

With games against the Storm and Eels still to come it's crucial that Kevin Walters' men take care of business against the 15th-placed Knights and get their defence back in order after conceding 66 points in the past fortnight.

The Knights are coming off a morale-boosting win over Wests Tigers and will fancy their chances of an upset on the back of Daniel Saifiti, Tyson Frizell and Mitch Barnett up front and Dane Gagai out wide.

Through the dramas of the past decade Wests Tigers have never finished last in their 22 seasons as a joint venture but Sunday's loss to the Knights leaves them precariously placed in 15th, just one win ahead of the Titans.

The Sharks, meanwhile, are sitting pretty in third spot and face teams well below them on the ladder in their final four games but coach Craig Fitzgibbon will be taking nothing for granted in the run home.

The Tricolours have now put a win between themselves and the ninth-placed Raiders, with skipper James Tedesco in fine touch as he led them to a comfortable win over Brisbane, who up until that result had been among the frontrunners to claim a top-four place.

The Cowboys were made to work for it against the Bulldogs last week, with a late double to Scott Drinkwater helping them to a win which keeps the slim chance of them jumping past Penrith for the minor premiership alive for the time being.

With Tohu Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake turning on the power and Shaun Johnson turning back the clock, the Warriors sent the parochial Auckland crowd home happy with the seven-tries-to-three win.

The Warriors opened the scoring after seven minutes when Johnson put centre Viliami Vailea into a huge hole and the youngster celebrated his return from a broken jaw with a try.

The Eels won without Mitchell Moses last week and crucially showed an ability to back up from a big win the previous week, something which has been lacking for them in 2022, and will have taken confidence from overcoming the Sea Eagles in the final half hour of the match.

South Sydney were always in control against the Warriors and were able to manage the minutes of a couple of key men as a result of being well up midway through the second half.