The Warriors have always been their own worst enemy, and on Sunday they showed us why.

The Dragons are never easy to beat, and the Warrior's history at Wollongong is terrible at best, but with wins over the Storm, Broncos and Sharks in recent weeks, they should have been able to slay the Dragons.

Instead, the Warriors got handed a 34-6 thrashing, which has seen them drop out of the Top eight - although they sit on 26 points, which is the same amount as the Knights, who are in eighth spot.

They will need to beat both the Panthers (home) and the Eels (away) if they want to play finals footy - they can't afford to drop either game, especially with the Eels, Knights, Tigers and Panthers all still in the hunt for the eighth spot.

The Warriors have what it takes to make the eight, but still struggle to win away from home - which could count against them this year.

It's a very serious problem for the club, and unless they can find a way to win in Australia, they'll always struggle to compete for the Premiership.

There's no reason why they can't win on the road - about half of our players are from Australia, and have played a lot of footy for Australian clubs. There really shouldn't be any excuses.

This week we face the wounded Panthers, who we should beat - although the Panthers have been our bogey side for the past few seasons. They're also coming off some heavy defeats, and will be looking to stop the rot and get their season back on track.

The fact that we're at home this week, though, gives us a lot more confidence.

But with only two games to go, the stakes are incredibly high for the Warriors. Win, and move on to the finals. Lose, and it's all over.

No pressure, boys.