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Warriors skipper Simon Mannering has no qualms with his side’s charmed 2011 grand final run being credited for forcing a change to the NRL finals system.
It would have been easy for the Warriors to take offence at commentary suggesting they were fortunate to make the decider after finishing the regular season in sixth and being belted 40-10 by Brisbane in the opening finals week.
Mannering tended to agree, but said the Warriors proved their worth with their subsequent form to reach the grand final, where they lost 24-10 to Sunday’s round one opponent Manly.
“I guess they’re using the Warriors because we were the last team to get through that way,” Mannering said on Tuesday.
“We were definitely lucky to get that second chance. But it’s a matter of taking that chance and I thought we played some really good football leading up to the grand final.”
The Warriors aren’t the only team to have taken advantage of the now-ditched McIntyre system to reach the decider.
In 2005, North Queensland, who finished the minor premiership in fifth spot, were beaten 50-6 by the Wests Tigers in a qualifying final, but rebounded to make the grand final where they again lost to the Tigers.
Under the system adopted from this season, the draw for week one will change, with the teams finishing fifth through eighth facing sudden death football throughout the finals.
While the Warriors did get a reprieve last year, Mannering said the new format definitely had its merits.
Teams that finish in the top four are guaranteed a second chance, while there’ll also be immediate certainty about who is still in and who is out after each match.
In 2010, after losing their qualifying final to Gold Coast, the Warriors had to wait 24 hours for other results to come through before it was confirmed that their campaign was over.
“I guess with this, it takes that all out of the equation,” Mannering said.
“If you’re in the bottom four and you lose, you’re out. If you’re in the top four and you lose, you get another life.”
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