Bodene Thompson of the Warriors tries to make some yardage at ANZ Stadium.

The New Zealand Warriors lost their eighth NRL game in a row on Sunday night, going down 26-22 to the Canterbury Bulldogs in Sydney, but produced a performance they could be proud of.

There has been a lot of negativity and disappointment around the Warriors over the past month but, while this will still go down as another loss, it will at least give their fans some hope over the summer months.

It took a late try from James Graham to deny the Warriors, who hadn't played with such urgency in their previous seven games combined, a special victory.

Tuimoala Lolohea was sensational at fullback, offering more than Sam Tomkins did all season in the No 1 jersey and providing the spark that's been missing since Shaun Johnson broke his ankle in July.

While many of the Warriors players in the game won't be at the club next year, Sunday night showed that those who remain are prepared to put up a fight.

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden made a change to his bench ahead of the game, dropping the out of favour Konrad Hurrell and recalling Sione Lousi, who the club are looking to offload ahead of next season.

Like the last couple of weeks, the Warriors got off to a flying start. They were able to get down field after Josh Reynolds gave away a penalty for a high tackle and from the next set Nathan Friend made a quick run from dummy half to score.

Mason Lino almost scored his maiden try in the 10th minute after a nice break but Sam Perrett put in a crucial tackle that also dislodged the ball.

Three minutes later Josh Morris opened the Bulldogs' account, finding some space down their left edge when Jonathan Wright came inside to attempt to tackle another player.

The big question now was how would the Warriors respond to conceding? Would they buckle like the past two rounds, or find some resolve?

The Warriors' error count started moving up as they gave away possession and in the 26th minute the defence opened up again - Bulldogs wing Curtis Rona scoring a superb try, grounding the ball while Dominique Peyroux was attempting to force him out.

The Warriors then spilled a huge amount of time - Bodene Thompson the worst offender - but, despite only completing eight of their 19 sets, the Kiwi side only trailed 8-6 at the break.

Three minutes into the second half the Warriors were back in front. The Bulldogs defence rushed up too quickly after a flick pass from Ben Matulino and Solomone Kata quickly ran into a gap to score.

The Bulldogs retook the lead through a Chase Stanley try in the 58th minute and two minutes later Damien Cook picked up their fourth four-pointer with Tim Browne's conversion making it a 20-10 game.

Lolohea showed his brilliance with solo tries in the 65th and 69th minutes but just when it looked like the Warriors were going to pull off the biggest upset of the season, Bulldogs captain Graham scored in the 78th minute to clinch the win.

The result means that the Warriors finish the NRL season in 13th place while the Bulldogs came in fifth and play the Dragons in the first week of the finals.

In the other first round finals games the Roosters take on the Storm, the Sharks host the Rabbitohs and the Broncos take on the Cowboys.

Bulldogs 26 (Josh Morris, Curtis Rona, Chase Stanley, Damien Cook tries; Tim Browne 3 goals) Warriors 22 (Nathan Friend, Solomone Kata, 2 Tuimoala Lolohea tries: Tuimoala Lolohea 3 goals) HT: 8-6.