Finals build-up in full swing

The build-up to this year's finals kicks off with captains from all eight clubs participating in this week's qualifying finals to gather in Sydney this morning.

The final piece in the top eight puzzle was put into place yesterday when Brisbane secured third place with a 36-12 win over the New Zealand Warriors, a victory which denied Manly it's first ever home final.

Manly, which finished fifth, will now travel to Newcastle on Friday night to take on fourth-placed Newcastle with Brisbane to host sixth-placed St George Illawarra at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

Canberra and Parramatta both face possible elimination in their finals matches.

The seventh-placed Raiders meet the second-placed Bulldogs at Telstra Stadium on Saturday night and the eighth-seeded Eels to travel to Melbourne to take on the minor premiers on Sunday.

Parramatta will have to defy history to advance to the second week of the finals with no bottom ranked team ever having beaten the top seeds in the opening week of the finals since the eight-team McIntyre system was introduced in 1999.