Soon after, he was making phone calls to a hospital, asking if they could induce his heavily pregnant wife, Zoe, before he flies across the ditch this afternoon.

On what shapes as a "laborious" day for the Roberts family, Amos is taking Zoe to the hospital this morning - with bags packed - and hopes to witness the birth of his second child before racing across town to join his teammates at the airport by 2pm.

"That's the way I'm hoping it goes - I'm hoping for a lot in a short space of time," Roberts told the Herald last night. "I was there for the birth of my first. You only get one chance to see the birth of your child - I just want to be there."

By the time he runs out at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday to mark Manu 'the Beast' Vatuvei, Roberts will be well equipped to deal with frayed nerves. The speedster had tried to get the inducement done yesterday but there were no beds available.

"We'll be able to get a bed [today] if there are no emergencies, so I hope the baby is born. If not, I'll try to get her to hold out until I get back," Roberts said. "It was due to come Thursday or Friday; they give you two weeks from the due date and they told us September 8.

"She is over it, she just wants the baby out. It was supposed to come after the Broncos game last week. It has been a real stubborn little thing, it doesn't want to come out. It will kick every now and then, and then won't do anything for a while."

The odd machinations of the NRL's McIntyre system have resulted in the eighth-placed Warriors securing a home final against the Roosters, who finished fourth but lost their first finals match to Brisbane. Fittler has been under increasing pressure as the season has progressed and is keen to avoid scrutiny in the lead-up to this knockout clash.

Roosters players were expecting to catch a bus to Cronulla this weekend - a plane to Auckland was not on the radar.

After upsetting Melbourne, the Warriors expect a sell-out crowd to help them reach the final four after being listed as long shots. The Roosters, meanwhile, have fallen from flavour of the month to betting outsiders, paying the most generous odds ($21) of all six remaining teams to win the title.

But five-eighth Braith Anasta painted a prettier picture of the team's predicament.

"It's a bit of a surprise but it doesn't really change much for us," Anasta said. "We've got to win three in a row to win the comp. We haven't really time to think about it too much, we're just getting on with the comp and making sure we prepare as best we can for the game.

"When you look at the games over the weekend I thought ours was the highest quality. We came off second best but not by a long way … They're on a roll but we're confident we can stop them."

Forwards Mark O'Meley and Nate Myles have escaped citations from the NRL judiciary after being involved in contentious tackles against the Broncos.

And Roberts, who has a tall order in shutting down Vatuvei, could receive the biggest boost of all if a new Roosters fan enters the world today.