Warriors coach Ivan Cleary has shrugged off any suggestions his side are the 'bogey team' for their opponents, the Melbourne Storm, ahead of their preliminary final on Saturday.
While the head-to-head battle between the two sides was favouring the Storm slightly - they have beaten the Warriors in 14 of their 26 matches - the Kiwi club's ability to win at AAMI Park over the last three years, including an historic 18-15 win in the 2008 qualifying final, has seen them labelled the Storm's kryptonite.
But Cleary dismissed any thoughts his side had any advantage over their more fancied opponents.
"I don't think we are their bogey side because they've actually beaten us more than we've beat them," he said.
"You can't argue with the fact that we've won a few games over there and we've won a few games over here, but they've got far more runs on the board than we have. They're the favourites - they deserve to be - they have three of the best players in the game who are not only good players but they know how to win games and consistently do it.
"We're up against it there's no doubt about that."
Those sentiments weren't lost on winger Manu Vatuvei, whose form went from ridiculous to sublime in the space of a week as he helped the Auckland club upset the high-flying Tigers 22-20 at Leichardt Oval last weekend.
"Melbourne is going to be really strong at their home ground and they've got a big crowd behind them, so we just have to do our best and go for that win. Anything can happen."
Vatuvei said the side were particularly down after the first half, but their confidence bounced back after all 17 players did their job.
"It was a big thing for the boys. We're still alive and hopefully against Melbourne we'll still be. It'll be a tough game but we'll give it our best."
Fixing the defensive lapses in the first half of last week's win against the Tigers was crucial for coach Cleary, who has responded by bringing in the more defensively reliable rookie Elijah Taylor at the expense of the attack-heavy Ukuma Ta'ai.
"I thought our defence in the first half was a problem. You've gotta give some credit obviously to the Tigers who started particularly well, and if the Tigers can play 25 minutes without making errors the style of football they play you're gonna be in trouble.
"Defensively we were reactive rather than proactive and we're looking to change that this week."
"I think certainly in the big games, in the finals having guys that relish a defensive workrate can't hurt. They're [Ta'ai and Taylor] two different styles of players. I guess it's not too hard to figure out why I've done that."