The Canberra Raiders ticked the first box with a big 46-28 win over Newcastle, now they sit back and wait until Sunday to see if their season stays alive.
But coach Ricky Stuart vowed they'll be "playing for their lives" against Melbourne regardless of whether the cards fall their way.
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Canberra keep faint finals hopes alive
It was clear pride alone wasn't going to win this one for the visitors, as the Raiders ran riot in Canberra.
Canberra were far too strong for the Knights at Canberra Stadium on Friday, as winger Jordan Rapana scored a hat-trick to become just the second member of the Green Machine to score 20 tries in two seasons — Noa Nadruku was the other.
It also takes the Kiwi international within two tries of the NRL's leading try-scorer Alex Johnston (22).
Some of the Raiders players were cheering on the Wests Tigers-North Queensland game in sheds after the 18-point win that drew them level with ninth-placed St George Illawarra on both wins and for-and-against.
They now have to wait to see how the Cowboys, Dragons and Manly fare to see if their finals hopes are still alive come Sunday night.
Regardless, Stuart said they wouldn't need to take their game to another level for their potential do-or-die clash against the Storm in Melbourne.
He also deflected Knights coach Nathan Brown's pre-game comments when he labelled the Raiders the unluckiest team in the NRL.
"No, we'll be fine for the Storm. We'll go down there whether we're playing for our lives or not we'll go down there to win," he said.
"We're not proud of some of the results we've had throughout the season. It was very kind of Nathan [Brown] this week to say what he said about some of our close losses. I'm a lot more brutal than that in regards to those close losses.
"The common denominator is us in every one of those games in regards to those close losses and we need to fix it and fix it fast."
Stuart did admit he was disappointed with the two tries they conceded at the end of the game.
It meant they went from having a better for-and-against than the Dragons to drawing level with them on plus-87.
But they completely outplayed the Knights for most of the night, shooting out to a 26-10 lead at half-time, with the visitors missing 32 tackles in the opening 40 minutes.
The Raiders' big boppers were completely on top, with both Junior Paulo (144 metres) and Shannon Boyd (121m) churning through plenty of work.
Paulo broke his try-scoring duck when he barged over to open the scoring for the Green Machine. His captain Jarrod Croker crossed soon after and a rout was looking likely.
But Shaun Kenny-Dowall scored the first of his two tries and then Jamie Buhrer crossed from what looked like a decidedly forward Daniel Lefi pass and it was back to a contest.
Then Raiders fullback Jack Wighton stamped himself on the game, scoring once before setting up Rapana's first.
Knights prop Daniel Saifiti showed his strength and resilience when he returned from a dislocated shoulder to open the scoring in the second half, but from there the Green Machine clicked into gear to end the contest through tries to Rapana and Blake Austin.
Former Raider Mitch Barnett crossed for a late consolation try, with Kenny-Dowall also scoring his second.
Canberra halfback Aidan Sezer came off with a corked thigh before the end, but said he would be fine to face the Storm.
"I was disappointed with the last two tries ... but the desire was there," Stuart said.
"I've got no problems with out defensive structures or whatnot, last week it was individual misses, this week it was just a couple of tries through good footy.
"Nathan's got them playing some good footy. We had to be good defensively. In saying that I'm really happy with a really short turnaround after being disappointed this week the players did a good job in getting up mentally for the challenge tonight."
CANBERRA RAIDERS 46 (Jordan Rapana 3, Junior Paulo, Jarrod Croker, Jack Wighton, Blake Austin tries; Jarrod Croker 9 goals) bt NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 28 (Shaun Kenny-Dowall 2, Jamie Buhrer, Daniel Saifiti, Mitch Barnett tries; Trent Hodkinson 4 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referees: Grant Atkins, Chris Butler. Crowd: 10,253.