The New Zealand Warriors are pushing for an early Saturday kick-off for their elimination final to avoid going head-to-head with the mighty All Blacks.

The NRL will wait until Sunday night to announce the schedule for week one of the finals.

It has been widely speculated that the Storm and Bulldogs would meet at AAMI Park on Friday night to open the finals, then the Warriors and Cronulla would host Penrith and the Roosters respectively at 4pm and 7.50pm on Saturday, with Canberra to be granted their Sunday afternoon wish when they play the Broncos.

The Raiders finished first and wanted the last timeslot to give those players not rested on Sunday a seven-day turnaround.

If the Warriors kick off at 4pm, or 6pm in Auckland, they will clash with the All Blacks, who start their Rugby Champi

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