The Brisbane Broncos have shown their premiership credentials with a 40-10 smashing of the Warriors in their Qualifying Final at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
Brisbane's domination of possession translated to an 18-point half-time and after New Zealand rallied midway through the second for a pair of tries, they closed the show in style with three tries in the final 10 minutes.
The Warriors now need Newcastle to lose to Melbourne and North Queensland to lose to Manly to progress their season in the second week of the finals.
Brisbane have the chance to advance directly to a preliminary final should either the Storm or Sea Eagles lose.
The Brisbane forwards slugged through a physical opening before eventually wresting the ascendancy and providing the go-forward ball required for playmakers Darren Lockyer and Peter Wallace to control the tempo all night.
In what might have been Lockyer's last game at Suncorp, the legend of Queensland league delivered another vintage performance and was able to delight the crowd of 48, 943 when he crossed over for a simple try in the first half.
Prop trio Ben Hannant, Scott Andersen and Josh McGuire led like giants, while their back-row support was spirited enough to negate the absence of suspended Dally M Second-rower of the Year Sam Thaiday.
Gerard Beale, who had replaced injured first-choice fullback Josh Hoffman, had a faultless performance at the back, returning the ball with enthusiasm and grabbing a well-deserved try in the 77th minute.
Justin Hodges came through his return from an injured hamstring in flying colours, remaining unbeaten in NRL games played this year and grabbing Brisbane's sixth try with a typically strong individual effort near the death.
Should the Warriors progress, hard-headed prop Sam Rapira will face a nervous wait, after being placed on report for low-grade spearing of Broncos hooker Andrew McCullough.
The early arm-wrestle dragged until the 15th minute, when 23-year-old second-rower Alex Glenn stamped his print on the contest.
Moments after he was on the receiving end of a brutal hit from Jacob Lillyman, Glenn had his revenge, pulling off a one-on-one strip on Bill Tupou before claiming points later in the set with a short burst to the line from a Wallace offload.
Lockyer and Wallace continued their aerial assault of the Warriors' left side, and after a clumsy spill from Vatuvei returned possession once again, the home-side grabbed their second try in the 28th minute.
Beale drew the Kiwi defence with a strong run to the left corner, before hitting Jack Reed on the perfect inside line with a clever flick pass. Reed – one of the best on ground - was left with work to do, but had the speed and footwork to evade a fast-closing defence.
The Broncos finished the first half with three-try lead, after Matt Gillett palmed off a string of defenders and popped the ball out at the line, where Lockyer only had to fall over the line for a popular four-pointer.
New Zealand needed a mistake-free second-half to have any hope of overhauling the Broncos, but their resolve was tested immediately when Vatuvei dropped yet another simple goal-line mark.
The Warriors repelled one full set and then a second after Gillett's chip and chase was grounded in-goal, but Brisbane would not be denied, and they had their fourth try in the 51st minute, with Reed coming down with Lockyer's chip and dishing