Warriors coach Stephen Kearney has praised halfback Shaun Johnson for stepping up when needed most during his side's 36-16 win over the Panthers on Friday night.
With lead playmaker Blake Green out injured, Johnson needed to put on a show, and he did exactly that as the Warriors ensured they would make the finals for the first time since 2011.
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Johnson, known for his ability with the ball, scored 12 points from four conversions and two penalty goals along with 127 running metres, two tackle busts, a line break and a try assist.
But Kearney was more impressed with another aspect of Johnson's game as he labelled it "Shaun's best performance of the year".
"What pleased me the most was the way he defended, to be honest," Kearney said. "They're not an easy team on that side with [Viliame] Kikau and [Waqa] Blake, they'd put anyone under pressure, but I thought Shaun did really well.
"I think he's been pretty consistent for most of the year. I thought he was good last week [in the one-point loss to the Bulldogs] on the attaching side of the game, but tonight he really just took charge of what we needed him to do.
"I thought that was Shaun's best performance of the year."
The Warriors dominated the game from the beginning as they shot out to an 8-0 lead before the Panthers had even touched the ball.
Tohu Harris was also a menace in his first game in seven weeks, running for a game-high 161m, while David Fusitu'a scored a hat-trick of tries to increase his tally for 21 for the season.
The winger is two tries away from tying Francis Meli's record for most tries in a season with at least two games left in the season.
"It was the first time we really opened up a bit," Kearney said. "We talk about working to create a little bit of magic, and I thought that happened at times tonight."
The Warriors will host the Raiders in their final match before the playoffs next Friday, with a chance of claiming a home playoff in week one of the finals. They will be desperate to win to honour Simon Mannering's 300th appearance for the club.
"We'll enjoy this moment, to begin with, and then we'll focus on what we need to improve on for next week" Kearney added.
"That's what we've done all year, and that's what we did this week."
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