Only one wish was going to be granted in the NRL clash at Brookvale Oval.

And to the agony of the long suffering Manly faithful, it went to departing New Zealand Warriors halfback Stacey Jones.

In his final NRL game before linking with new English Super League club Les Catalans, Jones drew the curtain on his 11-season Warriors career in fitting fashion, scoring a try in the dying minutes to seal a 22-20 win.

A distraught Manly was left with a very simple finals equation after its seventh loss in eight games - win next week against Canberra and lock up its first finals berth since 1998 or start planning for 2006.

"There was only going to be one fairytale there," Manly coach Des Hasler said.

"It was either going to be us securing our spot in the eight for the first time in eight years or it was going to be the Warriors sending off Stacey Jones a winner in his last game.

"But the great thing about it, we get to fight again next week against the Raiders at Canberra."

Manly looked to have finally locked up the eighth and last finals berth when it led 20-18 in the dying minutes.

However, pint-sized Jones stood tall in the 76th minute by cutting through the Manly defence from 10m out to score the match-winning try as the 14,219-strong crowd fell silent.

The Sea Eagles' loss kept the finals door ajar for the Bulldogs, Canberra, Sydney Roosters and Penrith.

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