New Zealand Warriors 10–12 Parramatta Eels — Qualifying Final, 2007 NRL Finals Series
7 Sep 2007 · Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (NZ) · Attendance: 28,745
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2007 NRL finals series: New Zealand Warriors 10–12 Parramatta Eels, at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland (NZ) on 7 Sep 2007.
Sourcing caveat: The Warriors' bench jersey numbers are now confirmed via Rugby League Project's team-list page: Nathan Fien (not the previously listed George Gatis) wore #9 as the bench hooker, with Gatis actually wearing #18 that day — a genuine jersey-number correction, not just a gap fill, since the two had been swapped in an earlier version of this entry.
Scoring timeline
| 45′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Byrne |
| 64′ | Parramatta Eels — try, Mateo |
| 72′ | Parramatta Eels — try, Hayne |
| 78′ | New Zealand Warriors — try, Penalty try |
Tries with a sourced minute, in order scored, with the conversion kicked/missed alongside each one where source data lets us match a kicker to that specific try. Tries whose exact minute isn't recorded in available sources appear in the Scorers table below but not here; goal tallies we can't attribute to one specific try are shown as descriptive text in Scorers rather than guessed into this timeline.
Scorers
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Byrne 45'; Penalty try 78' Goals: Witt (1/2 conversions) |
| Parramatta Eels | Tries: Mateo 64'; Hayne 72' Goals: Inu (2/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| New Zealand Warriors | Parramatta Eels | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wade McKinnon | Fullback | Jarryd Hayne | 1 |
| 2 | Patrick Ah Van | Wing | Krisnan Inu | 2 |
| 3 | Todd Byrne | Centre | Ben Smith | 3 |
| 4 | Simon Mannering | Centre | Timana Tahu | 4 |
| 5 | Michael Crockett | Wing | Eric Grothe | 5 |
| 6 | Michael Witt | Five-Eighth | Brett Finch | 6 |
| 7 | Grant Rovelli | Halfback | Tim Smith | 7 |
| 8 | Sam Rapira | Prop | Nathan Cayless (c) | 8 |
| 18 | George Gatis | Hooker | Mark Riddell | 9 |
| 10 | Steve Price (c) | Prop | Fuifui Moimoi | 10 |
| 11 | Ruben Wiki | Second Row | Nathan Hindmarsh | 11 |
| 12 | Logan Swann | Second Row | Ian Hindmarsh | 12 |
| 13 | Micheal Luck | Lock | Daniel Wagon | 17 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 9 | Nathan Fien | Feleti Mateo | 13 | |
| 14 | Wairangi Koopu | PJ Marsh | 14 | |
| 15 | Evarn Tuimavave | Josh Cordoba | 15 | |
| 16 | Epalahame Lauaki | Chad Robinson | 16 | |
| Ivan Cleary | Coach | Michael Hagan | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tony Archer |
Match report
In a tense, scoreless first half, minor premiers Melbourne's finals path opened with fifth-seeded Parramatta stealing a road win in Auckland. Todd Byrne opened the scoring for the Warriors just after the break, but the Eels hit back through Feleti Mateo and Jarryd Hayne. A controversial penalty try awarded to the Warriors with two minutes left brought New Zealand within two points, but Parramatta held on to eliminate the higher-seeded Warriors on their own turf.