Stephen Kearney has made two changes to his unbeaten Warriors side for their Round 3 road trip to Canberra.
Second-rower Isaiah Papali’i injured his knee early in Saturday’s win over Gold Coast and is set for a six-week stint on the sidelines. Leivaha Pulu, who replaced Papali’I from the bench against the Titans, moves into the starting pack to take on the Raiders.
Meanwhile, rookie hooker Sam Cook has lost his place on the bench after being used only sparingly in the first two rounds.
Off-season recruit Agnatius Paasi will make his first appearance for the Warriors since making his NRL debut with the club in 2014. The former Titans forward will be joined in the interchange contingent by Jazz Tevaga, who will provide dummy-half and backrow cover in his 16th first-grade outing.
“Leivaha did a wonderful job on the left edge coming into the game so early after Isaiah was injured,” said Warriors head coach Stephen Kearney.
“It’s tough for Isaiah being ruled out for a few weeks after the great start he had to the season but fortunately we’re able to call on Vaha as well as bringing Agnatius onto the bench.
“Iggy has had two impressive outings in the Intrust Super Premiership while Jazz had 80 minutes for our ISP side last weekend, so he comes into the side while Sam goes back to the ISP to get some time on the field.”
Pulu confirmed to start in the second row against the Raiders replacing the injured Papali’i.
[Team] https://t.co/d34lRalZwW#LetsGoneWarriors pic.twitter.com/ncpdkErg4n
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) March 20, 2018
WARRIORS V CANBERRA RAIDERS
GIO Stadium, Canberra
3.00pm, Saturday, March 24, 2018
WARRIORS
1 ROGER TUIVASA-SHECK (c)
2 DAVID FUSITU’A
3 PETA HIKU
4 SOLOMONE KATA
5 KEN MAUMALO
6 BLAKE GREEN
7 SHAUN JOHNSON
8 JAMES GAVET
9 ISSAC LUKE
10 ADAM BLAIR
11 LEIVAHA PULU
12 TOHU HARRIS
13 LIGI SAO
Interchange:
14 JAZZ TEVAGA
15 AGNATIUS PAASI
16 SAM LISONE
17 BUNTY AFOA
18 CHARNZE NICOLL-KLOKSTAD
20 ANTHONY GELLING
21 CHRIS SATAE
22 MASON LINO
Categories: Team News + Stats, WARRIORS NEWS
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