THE Warriors could not have asked for a more favourable draw in the early rounds.

Stephen Kearney’s men would be considered favourites in at least six of their first eight fixtures, gifting them a great opportunity to take up the running in the race for the 2019 title.

They don’t go head-to-head with another team that played in the 2018 finals until round five, they also meet five of the bottom six sides from last season, and play five of their first eight games in New Zealand.

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Their first four opponents are the Bulldogs, Tigers, Sea Eagles and Titans, and they’ll be highly fancied to pick up the maximum eight points from those clashes.

They then will need to negotiate the Rabbitohs and Storm, but have the Cowboys — sans retired champion Johnathan Thurston — and the Knights spliced in between those big games.

The other team likely to rocket to the front of the pack early is the Sharks.

Cronulla have been drawn against the Knights, Titans, Cowboys and Eels in their first four fixtures.

And while they then enter a nightmare stretch, playing the Roosters, Panthers, Broncos and Storm in succession, they’re sure to have played themselves into form by that stage.

The Knights are also likely to be pleased with their schedule in the early rounds.

The Novocastrians will be treated to home games at McDonald Jones Stadium in five of their first seven fixtures.

Their toughest opponents during that period, based on 2018 results, would be the Sharks, Panthers and Dragons. But they also have the Eels, Titans, Sea Eagles and Raiders.

This gives Mitchell Pearce and co a wonderful opportunity to press early for the club’s first finals appearance since 2013.

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