A hat-trick from enigmatic winger Manu Vatuvei has propelled the Warriors into the NRL playoffs, after the New Zealanders comfortably accounted for the Eels 28-6 tonight at a wet Parramatta Stadium.
The Warriors produced an impressive display of wet weather football to secure eighth position ahead of Newcastle, and they can finish as high as seventh if the Bulldogs can upset Canberra tomorrow.
Either way, an unenviable finals showdown with Melbourne or Manly awaits.
Vatuvei took just three minutes to dispel the nightmares of his horror match under the high ball at Parramatta Stadium last season, tapping back a cross-field bomb to initiate the opening try for the visitors.
Vatuvei's athleticism saw the ball bounce back favourably to the Warriors, before it was again spun wide for the towering winger to charge over in the corner.
Michael Witt slotted the sideline conversion to set up a handy six-point buffer.
Witt added another two points courtesy of a penalty goal in the 13th minute, extending the visitors lead to 8-nil after 13 minutes.
The Kiwis then butchered two golden opportunities to extend their lead, with Vatuvei and Grant Rovelli knocking on with the line beckoning, and the latter proved particularly costly.
Parramatta showed some of the stunning attack they've produced on far too few occasions this year, going the length of the field from the 20 metre restart.
Feleti Mateo fired a bullet-like cutout ball to put Krisnan Inu into space, who in turn released Luke Burt down the right-hand touchline.
Burt then kicked infield when confronted by Warriors fullback Lance Hohaia, with Kris Keating rushing through to grab the ball and touch down under the posts.
But the revival was short lived, with Vatuvei bullocking his way over in the corner for his second in the 36th minute, and Witt nailing another sideline conversion to extend the visitors lead to 14-6 at the break.
Vatuvei's Parramatta Stadium redemption was completed in the 48th minute, after the hulking winger dived over in the corner to notch up his third try.
More sustained pressure from the New Zealanders resulted in a try to Brent Tate, putting the game beyond the Eels reach at 22-6 with less than 20 minutes remaining.
Tate grabbed himself a double in the 76th minute, but all the attention was on Vatuvei post-match.
It was his first NRL hat-trick.
"I was kind of looking forward to coming back to Parramatta and turning my game around," he said.
"I only concentrated on catching all the balls this week and I did so I'm proud of myself."
Coach Ivan Cleary also paid tribute to his much-maligned winger.
"He was bagged from pillar to post, not just that night but consistently after that as well," Cleary said.
"He had one bad night ... it would have buried a lot of people what he had to go through so he's mentally very strong."
Asked if his side could make an impact on the premiership from eighth, Cleary said: "It's going to happen some day.
"It's not a bad position when you think about it, you go into a game where no-one will give you a chance."
Parramatta coach Michael Hagan wasn't as optimistic about tonight's opposition.
"I think they'll be up against it next week," he said.
"But they're certainly a team that if they could execute their sets as well as they did tonight they would stay in the contest for a big part of it."
NZ WARRIORS 28 (M Vatuvei 3 B Tate 2 tries M Witt 4 goals)
bt PARRAMATTA 6 (K Keating try L Burt goal)
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