No major changes have been made to the One New Zealand Warriors’ lineup 24 hours out from their 15th-round NRL clash against the Melbourne Storm at a sold-out Go Media Stadium tonight (7.30pm kick-off; game day partner: Dynasty Sport).
The originally selected side from 1-17 remains intact while head coach Andrew Webster has retained prop Tom Ale and centre Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in the 19-man game day squad.
Omitted from the extended bench are fullback Taine Tuaupiki, hooker Freddy Lussick and second rower Jacob Laban.
Veteran Shaun Johnson is back at halfback for the much-anticipated encounter with competition leader Melbourne.
After missing the club’s last three matches with a pectoral injury, the 33-year-old is set for his 263rd career appearance.
Johnson’s inclusion for his 11th appearance in his 14th NRL season sees Te Maire Martin, who has been impressive at halfback in the last three games, reverting to standoff.
Match: Warriors v Storm
Round 15 -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Storm
Team Lists
Backs
-
Fullback for Warriors is number 1 Charnze Nicoll-KlokstadFullback for Storm is number 1 Sualauvi Faalogo
-
Winger for Warriors is number 2 Dallin Watene-ZelezniakWinger for Storm is number 2 Grant Anderson
-
Centre for Warriors is number 3 Rocco BerryCentre for Storm is number 3 Dean Ieremia
-
Centre for Warriors is number 4 Adam PompeyCentre for Storm is number 4 Nick Meaney
-
Winger for Warriors is number 5 Marcelo MontoyaWinger for Storm is number 5 Xavier Coates
-
Five-Eighth for Warriors is number 6 Te Maire MartinFive-Eighth for Storm is number 6 Tyran Wishart
-
Halfback for Warriors is number 7 Shaun JohnsonHalfback for Storm is number 7 Jahrome Hughes
Forwards
-
Prop for Warriors is number 8 Addin Fonua-BlakeProp for Storm is number 8 Tui Kamikamica
-
Hooker for Warriors is number 9 Wayde EganHooker for Storm is number 9 Harry Grant
-
Prop for Warriors is number 10 Jackson FordProp for Storm is number 10 Josh King
-
2nd Row for Warriors is number 11 Marata Niukore2nd Row for Storm is number 11 Shawn Blore
-
2nd Row for Warriors is number 12 Mitchell Barnett2nd Row for Storm is number 12 Eliesa Katoa
-
Lock for Warriors is number 15 Dylan WalkerLock for Storm is number 13 Trent Loiero
Interchange
-
Interchange for Warriors is number 13 Tohu HarrisInterchange for Storm is number 15 Christian Welch
-
Interchange for Warriors is number 14 Chanel Harris-TavitaInterchange for Storm is number 16 Nelson Asofa-Solomona
-
Interchange for Warriors is number 16 Jazz TevagaInterchange for Storm is number 18 Joe Chan
-
Interchange for Warriors is number 17 Kurt CapewellInterchange for Storm is number 19 Jack Howarth
Reserves
-
Replacement for Warriors is number 20 Roger Tuivasa-SheckReplacement for Storm is number 17 Bronson Garlick
Match Officials
- Referee: Gerard Sutton
- Touch Judge: Phil Henderson
- Senior Review Official: Liam Kennedy
Last updated:
Utility Chanel Harris-Tavita, the starting #6 against the Dolphins and North Queensland, has been named on the interchange to provide cover for a number of positions.
The rest of the backline remains unchanged while the starting forward pack is the same as the one originally named last week although captain Tohu Harris was later shifted to the bench with Dylan Walker starting.
The Warriors are coming off a run of consecutive wins over three-times premier Penrith (22-20), the fourth-placed Dolphins (24-20) and North Queensland (42-12), their most complete performance of the season.
Along with two points from their 13th-round bye, the One New Zealand Warriors now have 15 points and have climbed to 10th within one point of the top eight.
Last week the side was bolstered by the return of key players Charnze-Nicoll Klokstad, Rocco Berry, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Tohu Harris and Kurt Capewell and now Johnson comes back to further strengthen the lineup.
Last Saturday night the Warriors completely dominated the Cowboys in their second straight win in Townsville.
With a completion rate of 84 per cent, they were well ahead of the Cowboys in metres gained (1908-1327), post-contact metres (792-512), line breaks (7-2), tackle breaks (32-21), average set distance (43.37-36.86) and kick return metres (277-109) while they had a total of just 23 missed and ineffective tackles compared to the Cowboys’ 42.
This week they face their toughest opponent of the past 10 years having lost 15 times on end to the Storm stretching back to their last win at Go Media Stadium in 2015.
