New Zealand were toppled 26-22 on home soil by a resurgent Parramatta, with the defeat dealing a major blow to the club’s hopes of finishing in the top-four.
The Warriors knew they simply had to beat the Eels to continue to keep Brisbane and Cronulla at bay on the ladder.
However, after staging a late comeback to put themselves in position to win the match, the Warriors suffered late heartbreak.
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Andrew Webster reacts to controversial Warriors loss as grip on top-four slips
One controversial late moment saw New Zealand have a try chalked off by the Bunker.
Adam Pompey thought he had bagged his double and snatched the two competition points in the process when he touched down under the posts, yet Parra were given a reprieve much to the home crowd’s disgust.
After an aerial battle between Isaiah Iongi and Demitric Vaimauga was put under the microscope for an extended period, the Bunker eventually ruled that the NZ forward had knocked the ball on.
"I’m pretty biased with four minutes to go," Webster said post-match. "So, I will have to rely on everyone else before I can watch it in slow-mo.
"I can promise you right now though, we should not have been in that situation through the way we played."
The loss leaves the Warriors nervously looking over their shoulder on the ladder.
They sit just two points above the Broncos and Sharks on 34 points, having played one game more than them. Meanwhile, they have the worst points differential out of the three teams that are still battling for fourth spot.
However, Webster insisted he was unconcerned with where his team finished next week after no longer having their destiny in their own hands.
"It doesn’t matter - wherever we finish, we finish," Webster stated.
"We want to go and chase our best performance that we can and whatever that equals, then that’s fine.
"I’m not a mathematician, but if we win next week and those teams lose, then we’re still a chance of finishing top-four.
"[The top-four] is not on our radar," the coach added.
"Our radar is strong performances, concentrate for 80 minutes and be ruthless with the way we play.
"We want to build some confidence and prove to ourselves that we can be the team that we know we can be."