Rd 26 Team List: Curran brought into starting line-up
Three major milestones will be marked on Friday night while Te Maire Martin’s name is back in the squad list for the first time in more than four months for the One New Zealand Warriors’ final regular season home match against St George Illawarra at Go Media Stadium (8.00pm kick-off).
The 27-year-old Martin has been listed on the extended bench in jersey #22 as he eyes a long-awaited return after fracturing his left fibula in the round six encounter with the Newcastle Knights on April 9.
He has also been named in the #6 jersey in the club’s New South Wales Cup side to take on the Dragons in the final round of competition’s regular season in Sydney on Saturday.
He was paired in the halves with Shaun Johnson for five of the One New Zealand Warriors’ first six NRL games, missing the round five clash with the Sharks following a head knock.
While head coach Andrew Webster has included Martin in the expanded 22-man squad for the round 26 contest, he has made just one swap to the 17-man combination used in last Friday night’s 29-22 win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
That sees 56-game second rower Josh Curran coming into the starting line up for the fifth time this season with regular starter Jackson Ford moving to the interchange.
Match: Warriors v Dragons
Round 26 -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Dragons
Team Lists
Backs
-
Fullback for Warriors is number 1 Charnze Nicoll-KlokstadFullback for Dragons is number 1 Tyrell Sloan
-
Winger for Warriors is number 2 Dallin Watene-ZelezniakWinger for Dragons is number 5 Mikaele Ravalawa
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Centre for Warriors is number 3 Rocco BerryCentre for Dragons is number 3 Mosese Suli
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Centre for Warriors is number 4 Adam PompeyCentre for Dragons is number 4 Zac Lomax
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Winger for Warriors is number 5 Marcelo MontoyaWinger for Dragons is number 21 Sione Finau
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Five-Eighth for Warriors is number 6 Luke MetcalfFive-Eighth for Dragons is number 6 Talatau Amone
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Halfback for Warriors is number 7 Shaun JohnsonHalfback for Dragons is number 7 Ben Hunt
Forwards
-
Prop for Warriors is number 8 Addin Fonua-BlakeProp for Dragons is number 8 Francis Molo
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Hooker for Warriors is number 9 Wayde EganHooker for Dragons is number 14 Connor Muhleisen
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Prop for Warriors is number 10 Bunty AfoaProp for Dragons is number 10 Blake Lawrie
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 11 Josh Curran2nd Row for Dragons is number 11 Billy Burns
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 12 Marata Niukore2nd Row for Dragons is number 12 Dan Russell
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Lock for Warriors is number 13 Tohu HarrisLock for Dragons is number 13 Michael Molo
Interchange
-
Interchange for Warriors is number 14 Dylan WalkerInterchange for Dragons is number 9 Jacob Liddle
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Interchange for Warriors is number 15 Jackson FordInterchange for Dragons is number 15 Ryan Couchman
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Interchange for Warriors is number 16 Bayley SironenInterchange for Dragons is number 16 Ben Murdoch-Masila
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Interchange for Warriors is number 17 Freddy LussickInterchange for Dragons is number 17 Zane Musgrove
Reserves
-
Replacement for Warriors is number 20 Taine TuaupikiReplacement for Dragons is number 2 Mathew Feagai
Match Officials
- Referee: Peter Gough
- Touch Judge: Matt Noyen
- Touch Judge: Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski
- Senior Review Official: Adam Gee
Last updated:
The ninth and last regular season match at Go Media Stadium will be highlighted by two major individual milestones and a club landmark as well.
It will be the One New Zealand Warriors’ 300th match at the venue where they have a record of 171 wins, a draw and 127 losses.
Coinciding with the occasion, master halfback Johnson will mark another high point in his exceptional 13th season with his 250th career appearance, his 206th for the One New Zealand Warriors while the remaining 44 were with the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks from 2019-2021.
And captain Tohu Harris will lead the team out in what will be his 100th game for the club after reaching his 200th career milestone in the round three win against the Cowboys in March. He’ll be the 29th player to play 100 games for the One New Zealand Warriors.
Close to the club record of 23 tries in a season is winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak whose hat-trick against the Sea Eagles has him in a three-way tie at the top of the NRL’s try scoring chart with 21 alongside the Dolphins’ Jamayne Isaako and South Sydney’s Alex Johnston.
Watene-Zelezniak is in a supreme vein of try-scoring form unmatched by any player in the club’s history. After scoring two tries in his first four matches of the season, he has exploded with 19 tries in his last 12 games failing to score in just one of them in what has been far and away the most prolific try-scoring campaign of his 12-season NRL career (12 in 2016 was his previous best).
Last Friday night’s win over Manly was the sixth on end since losing to South Sydney on June 30, a feat not achieved since 2002 when the Warriors fashioned a club record eight straight victories; the only other time six consecutive wins had been posted was in 1995.
A seventh win on Friday night will ensure the One New Zealand Warriors confirm their spot in the top four for the finals for the first time since 2007.
They beat the Dragons 48-18 when the two sides last met on June 23. This will be the first time they’ve met at Go Media Stadium since 2018.
