Another feature of the squad announced today is the inclusion of hooker Nathaniel Roache on the extended eight-man bench. Roache has been side-lined with a leg injury since his impressive try-scoring performance in the club’s season-opening 40-6 win over the Bulldogs.

Interchange prop Bunty Afoa will bring up his 50th milestone appearance for the club this week in his sixth consecutive outing of the season.

The Vodafone Warriors will be seeking to even up their ledger with their third win of the season on Saturday.

The Cowboys come into the encounter on the back of four straight losses. They opened their campaign with a home win over St George Illawarra but have since lost away to Brisbane 10-29 followed by three home defeats by Cronulla (16-42), Canberra (12-30) and Melbourne (12-18).

The Vodafone Warriors have a 20-19 edge in 39 meetings between the two sides with a 14-6 advantage in Mount Smart Stadium clashes.

WARRIORS v NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS

7.30pm, Saturday, April 20, 2019
Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland

WARRIORS

1 ROGER TUIVASA-SHECK (c)

2 DAVID FUSITU’A

3 PETA HIKU

4 SOLOMONE KATA

5 KEN MAUMALO

6 CHANEL HARRIS-TAVITA

7 BLAKE GREEN

8 AGNATIUS PAASI

9 ISSAC LUKE

10 LEESON AH MAU

11 ADAM BLAIR

12 TOHU HARRIS

13 LACHLAN BURR

Interchange:

14 JAZZ TEVAGA

15 SAM LISONE

16 BUNTY AFOA

17 ISAIAH PAPALI’I

18 NATHANIEL ROACHE

20 LEIVAHA PULU

21 GERARD BEALE