Five players flew to Australia today to join the One New Zealand Warriors in camp ahead of Friday night’s 24th-round NRL clash against the Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park in Sydney.
Head coach Andrew Webster confirmed halfback Shaun Johnson was on the flight along with comeback half Luke Metcalf, centre Adam Pompey, winger Marcelo Montoya and rookie back rower Leka Halasima.
After arriving Pompey (knee) and Montoya (groin) were named to return from injury to face the Sea Eagles while Halasima had an 80-minute outing for the club’s New South Wales Cup side against South Sydney on Sunday.
Webster said Johnson is a definite starter for the match against the Sea Eagles after a quad strain kept him out of last Sunday’s encounter with the Dolphins.
Match: Sea Eagles v Warriors
Round 24 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
7th Position
away Team
Warriors
14th Position
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
“Who plays on the weekend might not necessarily be how it looks (in the selected team) 1-17 but because we’re in Australia we want to get players on the ground who aren’t here at the moment to give ourselves an opportunity to have two good training sessions," he said.
“Luke’s definitely eligible and will be in consideration to play NRL this weekend, particularly off the back of two really good performances in the New South Wales Cup.
“Shaun is fit this week and he’ll definitely be in the team. We’re also likely to have Adam (Pompey) back.”
While Webster said the five players arriving today would all be in contention for this week’s squad, he said Te Maire Martin (neck) and centre Ali Leiataua (concussion) will be unavailable.
