While Jackson Ford is a long-term casualty the One New Zealand Warriors welcome back Kurt Capewell and Sam Healey for winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak’s milestone appearance in Saturday’s round 17 clash against the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium (3.00pm kick-off local time; 5.00pm NZT).

It has been confirmed the 28-year-old Ford will be out for 10-12 weeks with a pectoral tear which forced him off the field 20 minutes into Sunday’s 38-20 win over the Cowboys in Christchurch.

The interruption to Ford’s superb 2026 season sees Tanner Stowers-Smith coming into the starting front row alongside captain Mitchell Barnett.

While co-captain James Fisher-Harris (calf), second rower Leka Halasima (hamstring) and winger Alofi’ana Khan-Pereira (leg) are still unavailable, Queensland second rower Capewell returns after missing the North Queensland clash as does Healey, who was a late scratching last weekend.

In a match which pits the second-placed One New Zealand Warriors against the third-ranked Dolphins, Watene-Zelezniak will become the 33rd player to join the club’s 100-game roll of honour.

Joining the Warriors midway through the Covid era in 2022, the 30-year-old Watene-Zelezniak has set exceptional try-scoring standards for the club, his try in the win over the Cowboys taking him to 15 in 14 games this season.

Scoring a club record 25 tries in 2023, he now has 74 tries in his 99 appearances for the Warriors so far, a strike rate of 0.74 tries a game which puts him ahead of record holder Manu Vatuvei’s 0.67 tries a match (152 in 226 appearances).








Watene-Zelezniak is one of only three players in line to maintain a sequence of playing in every match so far this campaign alongside hooker Wayde Egan and loose forward Erin Clark.

The Warriors have named an unchanged backline to face the Dolphins while Capewell and Stowers-Smith come into an amended starting pack.

Marata Niukore, who started in the second row against North Queensland, moves to the six-man bench which also includes Healey, Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, Demitric Vaimauga, Kayliss Fatialofa and Luke Metcalf.

When the two teams met in Wellington on Anzac Day the Warriors held on for a 20-18 win but since then the Dolphins have been in the hottest form in the competition putting together seven wins on end over the Storm, Bulldogs, Rabbitohs, Raiders, Cowboys, Roosters and Wests Tigers.