Warriors name unchanged starting side to face Dragons

The Warriors have named an unchanged starting XIII for Friday’s NRL trip to face the St George Illawarra Dragons, although injuries to the wider squad sees a thin interchange bench.

Following Jazz Tevaga’s premature exit in last weekend’s draw against the Manly Sea Eagles, coach Andrew Webster has named just two forwards on the interchange, with Tom Ale and youngster Jacob Laban covering the entire pack.

Tevaga left the field in the first half on Saturday and has since been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a hamstring injury.

That sees him join the likes of Bunty Afoa, Marata Niukore, Dylan Walker and Demetric Sifakula as injuries in the forwards. Reserve hooker Freddy Lussick is also unavailable, after being handed a four-week suspension for breaking the leg of South Sydney Rabbitohs halfback Lachlan Ilias in a mistimed challenge in the New South Wales Cup.

Chanel Harris-Tavita is expected to cover the halves as well as hooker at No 14, while Adam Pompey has been named to wear No 17 as a specialist centre.

Elsewhere, Mitchell Barnett will notch up 150 NRL games, having made 126 appearances for the Newcastle Knights before joining the Warriors at the start of 2023.

The Warriors boast a good record away to the Dragons and have not lost in Wollongong in their last four appearances against the St George Illawarra side in Australia.

Their last trip to the Dragons yielded a 48-18 victory, with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scoring four tries.

Warriors team to face St George Illawarra Dragons
1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
3. Rocco Berry
4. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
5. Marcelo Montoya
6. Te Maire Martin
7. Shaun Johnson
8. Addin Fonua-Blake
9. Wayde Egan
10. Mitch Barnett
11. Jackson Ford
12. Kurt Capewell
13. Tohu Harris (c)

Interchange
14. Chanel Harris-Tavita
15. Tom Ale
16. Jacob Laban
17. Adam Pompey

Reserves
18. Zyon Maiu’u
20. Taine Tuaupiki
21. Ali Leiataua
22. Edward Kosi
23. Paul Roache

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission