The Warriors have stumbled to their sixth straight loss going down to the Canberra Raiders 22 at a rain sodden Mt Smart stadium.
Raiders shut out the Warriors Photo: PHOTOSPORT
A strong running first half saw the Raiders establish a solid 18-6 halftime lead.
The Warriors' only response in the first 40 minutes coming from a try to David Fusitua, converted by Mason Lino.
The Warriors rallied early in the second half, with captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck leading the way with a 56-minute try that cut the Raiders' lead back to eight points.
But the Warriors couldn't hold back a resurgent Raiders team, who ran in three more tries before Isaiah Papali'i crossed for a consolation try in the dying minutes.
The win keeps the 10th placed Raiders' slim hopes of making the play-offs alive while sending the 12th placed Warriors further towards the bottom rungs of the competition.
While performing with far more energy and drive than in last weekend's capitulation to bottom-placed Newcastle, typical blunders and poor try-line defence cost the Warriors dearly.
Backing up solid wins over the Rabbitohs and Sharks, the Green Machine's 20-point victory - six tries to three - keeps them within four points of the eighth-placed Cowboys.
They must win their final three matches against Penrith, Newcastle and Melbourne to have a chance of sneaking into the top eight.
The Warriors' finals hopes, however, are long gone - with Sunday's match marking their worst loss of the season to date.
Two trademark gaffes bookended the Aucklanders' first stanza in relentless drizzle.
For the first, centre Solomone Kata got on the end of an Ata Hingano grubber, only to lose the ball and injure his shoulder while grounding - and then watch on in horror as winger Cotric broke down the left to score in the next play.
Tries to Jarrod Croker and Blake Austin followed, sandwiching a David Fusitu'a effort, before Hingano tumbled over with the tryline begging near half time.
Likely handed a rocket by coach Stephen Kearney in the sheds, the Warriors turned the screws with repeat sets of six in the early second half.
But, barring a well-worked Roger Tuivasa-Sheck try down the left, the Warriors couldn't break through before letting the floodgates open to the Raiders.
