Team Update: SJ out of Suncorp Stadium showdown
Halfback Shaun Johnson will miss the One New Zealand Warriors’ 23rd-round NRL encounter with the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane tomorrow (2.00pm kickoff local time; 4.00pm NZT).
Five days after announcing he’ll retire at the end of this season – his 14th in the NRL – the 33-year-old has been ruled out with a quadricep injury he picked up in last week’s loss to Parramatta.
He’ll miss the match against the Dolphins but is expected to be available for the round 24 encounter with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in Sydney next Friday night (August 16).
Te Maire Martin, who was named in jersey #18 on Tuesday, comes into halfback after playing for club’s New South Wales Cup side last week.
Also dropping out of the extended squad are second rower Leka Halasima and centre Moala Graham-Taufa. Rookie back rower Demitric Sifakula moves onto the interchange for his fourth NRL outing in all and his first since being used against Brisbane in Napier last May.
Sifakula has been making his comeback from ACL surgery with the NSW Cup side.
The other two players retained in the 19-man game day squad are fullback Taine Tuaupiki and prop Bunty Afoa.
Coming back into the side on the left wing is Edward Kosi, a try scorer in the 28-16 win over Wests Tigers on July 26. His return sees Roger Tuivasa-Sheck shifted to the centres replacing Graham-Taufa.
The starting pack is unchanged for the fifth consecutive match with Freddy Lussick, Tom Ale, Jazz Tevaga and Sifakula making up the bench.
The match gives the team’s top try scorer Dallin Watene-Zelezniak an opportunity to move closer to reaching twin milestones of 100 NRL tries and 50 tries for the Warriors.
He sits on a career tally of 97 tries in 208 appearances as he eyes the goal of becoming only the sixth New Zealander to reach the 100 mark after Manu Vatuvei, Nigel Vagana, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Jordan Rapana and Jason Nightingale.
He needs just two more tries to register 50 for the club, a feat achieved by nine players previously. With 48 in 65 he’s in line to hit the fastest 50 (David Fusitu’a has that record, achieving it in 77 matches).
Watene-Zelezniak scored twice against in 30-8 home win over the Dolphins last season, was rested for the return match in Brisbane and was a scorer again when the Warriors beat the Dolphins 24-20 in Auckland this year.
After a hot start to the season, the Dolphins have faltered lately to slip to ninth place on 24 points, three ahead of the Warriors.
