Via Warriors Media
Warriors head coach Stephen Kearney has named an unchanged 17 but has included David Fusitu’a on the extended bench for Friday night’s sixth-round NRL clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Bankwest Stadium (6.00pm kick-off local time; 8.00pm NZT).
Fusitu’a remained in Auckland for personal reasons when the team travelled to Australia on May 3 to go into quarantine in Tamworth.
Arriving in Australia more than a week later, Fusitu’a – who is two games short of his 100th career appearance – had to isolate in Sydney for 14 days before joining the team when it moved to its Terrigal base on the Central Coast.
His inclusion is the only change to the 21-man squad named today. He comes in for Hayze Perham, originally named in the centres for the encounter with North Queensland before making way for the returning Peta Hiku, the hat-trick hero in the 37-26 win.
Kearney has been able to named the same pack used in the victory over the Cowboys when five of the starting forwards topped 100 metres – Tohu Harris with 193 from 17 runs, players’ player of the day Jamayne Taunoa-Brown (178 from 15), Adam Blair (157 from 16), Eliesa Katoa (146 from 15) and Lachlan Burr (107 from 11 in his first game in the revived season).
Blair and Burr both achieved milestones last week, Blair with his 50th appearance for the Vodafone Warriors and Burr the 50th of his career.
While Fusitu’a is closing in on the 100-game club, halfback Blake Green, Agnatius Paasi and Hiku are all just two games away from playing their 50th match for the Vodafone Warriors.
Aside from the 40 points scored in last year’s first-round win over Canterbury-Bankstown, the Vodafone Warriors’ 37-point haul against the Cowboys was the most the club has scored in a match since the 50-14 victory over Newcastle in June 2016.
The win has lifted the Vodafone Warriors to 11th on the ladder on four points, level with the Cowboys in eighth, Wests Tigers ninth, South Sydney 10th and Brisbane 12th. Parramatta is the only team without a loss after the first five rounds.
The Vodafone Warriors have beaten South Sydney only once – in Perth in 2018 – in the last 10 meetings between the two sides.
Rabbitohs vs Warriors
8pm (NZT) at Bankwest Stadium
Rabbitohs
1. Latrell Mitchell 2. Dane Gagai 3. Campbell Graham 4. Braidon Burns 5. Alex Johnston 6. Cody Walker 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Tevita Tatola 9. Damien Cook 10. Thomas Burgess 11. Jaydn Su’A 12. Ethan Lowe 13. Cameron Murray 14. Liam Knight 15. Patrick Mago 16. Tom Amone 17. Bayley Sironen 18. Mark Nicholls 19. Corey Allan 20. James Roberts 21. Keaon Koloamatangi
Warriors
1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 2. Patrick Herbert 3. Peta Hiku 4. Gerard Beale 5. Adam Pompey 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Blake Green 8. Jamayne Taunoa-Brown 9. Wayde Egan 10. Lachlan Burr 11. Eliesa Katoa 12. Tohu Harris 13. Adam Blair 14. Karl Lawton 15. Poasa Faamausili 16. King Vuniyayawa 17. Jack Murchie 18. David Fusitu’a 20. Agnatius Paasi 21. Chanel Harris-Tavita 22. Isaiah Papali’i
Categories: Team News + Stats, WARRIORS NEWS
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