Luckless Warriors half Luke Metcalf has suffered yet another injury in a 40-6 defeat of Brisbane, who lost their own superstar Reece Walsh to a possibly season-ending ankle issue.
The third-placed Warriors drew level on competition points with Penrith in second place, but are now poised to lose another playmaker on the run to the NRL finals.
Metcalf clutched at his right hamstring after landing the conversion for the Warriors' third try and cut a devastated figure leaving the field in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Overlooked for most of the season, Metcalf had been playing only his second game since April after starring in last week's defeat of the Panthers.
But the St George Illawarra recruit's dream of leaving the Warriors as a premiership winner is now in doubt, just when he appeared back in favour at the Kiwi club.
It is the latest injury blow for Metcalf, who returned from his second anterior cruciate ligament rupture earlier this season, only to suffer a hamstring injury two weeks later.
Minutes before Metcalf's new injury, Walsh was crunched in a hip-drop tackle that landed Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad in the sin bin.
Walsh initially attempted to play on, but in his next involvement he threw an intercept that allowed winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira to streak away and score.
He left the field as Khan-Pereira's try put the Warriors up three scores and on the way to a fifth victory in six games.
Brisbane's finals hopes are well and truly over, but Walsh's injury may also impact his hopes of playing for Australia at the World Cup from October.
Earlier, the Warriors made a fast start and scored first as Jacob Laban grabbed Wayde Egan's pass and snuck outside Ezra Mam to the tryline.
Metcalf batted the ball on for five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita to step twice through traffic and nab the Warriors' second try.
The Warriors took a 20-0 lead into halftime and never looked likely to be chased down.
The Warriors' Maori stars electrified after the break in Indigenous Round, with Nicoll-Klokstad touching down from a kick and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak finishing acrobatically in the right corner.
Left centre Leka Halasima crossed in the final five minutes to put the icing on the cake as the 16th-placed reigning premiers dropped a 12th game from 13 starts.
The Warriors may need to call on Luke Hanson for a second NRL game next week, given fellow halfback options Te Maire Martin (hamstring) and Tanah Boyd (knee) are both out.
Another option is to shift Nicoll-Klokstad from fullback and into the halves until Martin returns in coming weeks.