Newcastle coach Rick Stone believed the fate of his side is in their hands after their 20-12 defeat to the Warriors on Saturday.
Despite leading by eight points at halftime, the Knights faded in the second half as their error count inflated under pressure.
Stone told reporters he was happy with how his side performed in the opening 55 minutes, where they held a 12-4 lead.
"We competed well, we controlled the game well. We were in a good position and fought hard for our lead," he said.
Stone refused to believe his side had to benefit from other results in order to confirm their appearance in the finals.
"We understand our destiny is in our own control. We're only got three games to go, two at home, to make the eight," he said.
Captain Kurt Gidley was visibly frustrated with some of the calls made on the field, most notably the ammount of times his side were pinged for not being 10 metres when the Warriors were playing the ball.
"They just said we were jumping early. I thought they were doing the same thing," Gidley said.
"Our intent was good. Our errors in the second half hurt us. There's not too much to say."
And with that, the two men left Mt Smart Stadium with the rest of the side knowing they needed to win in order to ensure that their top eight position, and their destiny, was to be done in their own hands.