The New Zealand Warriors sealed a place in the finals and left Brisbane desperately clinging its spot in the top eight to after a weekend of high drama in the National Rugby League.

The Warriors' 22-14 win over the Broncos in Auckland came at a hefty price - half Lance Hohaia suffered a season-ending knee injury and Monty Betham and Awen Guttenbeil were placed on report - but it bought them a place in the finals.

The Broncos, on the other hand, are in seventh and no certainty to finish in the top eight with matches remaining against the two sides eyeing off their spot - Parramatta and St George Illawarra.

At least they control their own destiny, with ninth-placed Eels and 10th placed Dragons needing to win their remaining two games and relying on the Broncos or Newcastle, or both, losing their remaining two.

"We tried hard, did a lot of good things but we were playing against a team that was certainly playing well themselves," Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett said.

The Broncos also had two players - Carl Webb and Casey McGuire - placed on report after a wild melee in the first half.

Test centre Brent Tate finished the match in hospital following a tackle by Warriors winger Francis Meli but was cleared by doctors of any neck damage.

"Brent was falling but surely there's an onus with the tackler, because Brent's got a pretty serious injury," Bennett said.

The Knights again found life difficult without captain Andrew Johns, losing 24-16 in freezing conditions at Canberra Stadium.

It was so cold Canberra halfback Mark McLinden spent the entire half-time break with his hands under a blow dryer trying to regain some feeling.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP