Eels

‌While the Kiwi pivot will no doubt cop a razzing from elements of the blue and gold crowd, he remains on good terms with his former teammates. However, after orchestrating a 22-10 win against his former club at Mt Smart Stadium in Round 6, Eels players are hoping things will be different when he faces the music against his old home crowd.

"He'll be sweet; I hope he's sweet, Parra fans are brutal!" laughed Eels hooker Kaysa Pritchard.

The absence of form hooker Josh Hodgson to a one-game suspension looked like costing Canberra dearly as a disorganised Raiders outfit was stunned by an early blue and gold avalanche but the Green Machine sparked into life in the second half as skipper Jarrod Croker's virtuoso performance helped his outside man Brenko Lee to a stunning four-try haul.

The Warriors went into their first-ever Nines finals as heavy favourites in front of a parochial Eden Park crowd but the Eels caused a major boilover.

The Warriors' defeat was further soured as star halfback Shaun Johnson limped from the field in the second half and appeared troubled by a leg injury.