AFTER producing the biggest upset in NRL finals history, Warriors players revealed that they had gone into yesterday's match with a plan to complain about Melbourne's controversial wrestling tactics every time one of them felt they were the victim of a grapple tackle or crusher hold.

The result, which was so unexpected that stunned officials abandoned plans to present the Storm with the JJ Giltinan Shield at full-time for winning the minor premiership for the third consecutive season, means that the Warriors will host Sydney Roosters on Friday night while Melbourne travel to Brisbane the following evening for a sudden-death play-off.

As they followed their downcast Storm rivals up the Olympic Park tunnel after the match, one member of the Warriors camp declared to the Herald: "Do you think we'll get any f---ing respect now?"

After becoming the first team to finish eighth at the end of the regular season and beat the top-ranked side in a finals match, the Warriors have earned more than that - opponents will surely fear them now after the way they stood up to the Storm.

"We just weren't going to put up with any shit," Warriors hooker Ian Henderson said. "We're aware they can grapple tackle and that kind of stuff, just the niggly stuff. We spoke about it a little bit. We weren't going to be bullied and pushed around. You have to make that stand.

"We were happy to play fair. We weren't going to take any crap. Sometimes we gave away a penalty but I think it helped. We said as soon as there was a grapple tackle, we weren't going to take a backward step."

Warriors captain Steve Price complained to referee Jason Robinson several times during the game, saying at one point: "We'll take it into our own hands. They're choking the shit out of us."

On another occasion, a Warriors player was heard to tell an opponent as they packed into a scrum: "You'll f---ing break someone's neck."

Henderson later barked after Jeff Lima's tackle on the Warriors skipper: "That was a crusher".

"I just let the referee know of some things that aren't right," Price said. "I felt particularly … I got some tackles done to me that I didn't think was right, so I just asked him to have a look at it and he did. That's all you can ask for, all you can hope for from his perspective. He did have a look at it and there were a couple of penalties given."

He added: "I'm not a fan of them [grapple tackles]. There were a few things going on. I had it done on one of my first hit-ups, then I got it done to me again."

Storm chief executive Brian Waldron replied: "I'm sure his mother enjoyed that language. We care about the judiciary, about Robert Finch, about Greg McCallum. I wouldn't give any credit to what any other club says about us."

The comments also riled the Melbourne players, with second-rower Ryan Hoffman saying: "We do everything within the rules. We don't go out there to break the rules. We don't go out there with any grubby tactics or bullshit."

Asked about the Warriors' complaints, Hoffman said: "I could see a lot of hands in the air - and Steve Price has got a great relationship with the refs, he was always having a yarn to them."

The frustration between the two teams seemed to boil over at half-time, with several Melbourne players jostling Warriors centre Brent Tate as they left the field.

Tate later played down the incident but said the Warriors had spoken before the game about not allowing the Storm to intimidate them.

"We spoke about that during the week," Tate said. "When you're in the eight no one's got a right to win it. Just because you come first doesn't mean you've got the right to win these games and we were aware of that. Warrirors teams in the past are critcised for not digging in and we really dug deep tonight and it's a great win."

Asked about the Storm's tactics, Tate said: "They are the best at it and I think a few of the boys were getting a bit rowdy about a few holds but at the end ot the day all we want is the referee to ref it fairly and I'm sure he did that."