The Warriors hopes of hosting a home playoff took a brutal hit on Friday night after the Panthers claimed a rare 22-16 win over the Melbourne Storm.
It was the Panthers first win over the Storm since 2013, their first in Melbourne since 2005 and their first ever at AAMI Park to all but secure a home final in Penrith.
The Panthers outscored the hosts five tries to three.
The Storm were missing a number of key players including Billy Slater and Cameron Munster.
The result sees the Warriors slip to sixth on the NRL ladder, hours after they jumped to fifth following their 20-16 win over the Raiders.
If the Warriors are to remain in sixth and secure a home final in Auckland, they'll need both the Dragons and Broncos to lose their final matches of the season against the Knights and Sea Eagles respectively.
If one of those teams wins, then the Warriors will be travelling across the Tasman for their first playoff game in seven years.
Meanwhile, the Storm loss has opened the door for the Sydney Roosters to claim the Minor Premiership and JJ Giltinan Shield.
They need to beat last-placed Parramatta on Saturday night and make up a 27 point differential to move ahead of Melbourne on the ladder.
Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith said it was disappointing to let the opportunity slip.
"We are all very disappointed with the result because if we'd won we would have wrapped up the minor premiership and now we have to wait on results," Smith said.
"Either way we're guaranteed top two - winning the minor premiership would have been really nice but if finish second it will be the same scenario for us and we will have a home final."
Panthers interim coach Cameron Ciraldo said he "couldn't be prouder" of his players who headed into the match low on confidence following back to back losses.
"It's been a tough couple of weeks. Just the way they prepared all week gave us a real confidence coming down here," he said.
"The way they hung in here tonight, I couldn't be prouder of their effort. The performance we put out there - if we can do that again next week we're in with a chance."
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