Three players have been ruled out but four are back in the One New Zealand Warriors’ squad for Saturday’s round nine NRL match against the Parramatta Eels at CommBank Stadium in Sydney (5.30pm kick-off local time; 7.30pm NZT).
Co-captain Mitchell Barnett and centre Ali Leiataua are following concussion protocols after leaving the field in the Warriors’ 20-18 win over the Dolphins in their Anzac Day contest in Wellington.
They join second rower Marata Niukore who is also subject to head injury procedures.
While those three are unavailable, experienced Adam Pompey returns from suspension to replace Leiataua in the centres and front rower Tanner Stowers-Smith comes onto the bench for Barnett after recovering from a hamstring complaint that ruled him out of the last two wins over Gold Coast and the Titans.
Also making comebacks are playmakers Luke Metcalf and Te Maire Martin.
Metcalf is included on the six-man bench in jersey #20 after missing the last three games against the Storm, Titans and Dolphins with a hamstring issue while Martin is named as one of the three reserves; Martin has missed the first eight rounds of the season after breaking his right fibula playing for the Māori All Stars in Hamilton in February.
Apart from the inclusion of Pompey and Stowers-Smith the playing 17 is the same as that used in the tense victory over the Dolphins.
Winger Alofi’ana Khan-Pereira netted his second double in consecutive matches to give him four in his first three appearances for the One New Zealand Warriors.
He now has the exceptional distinction of scoring exactly a try a game – 57 tries in 57 career appearances so far.
On the opposite wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak touched down for the fourth straight game to have seven in four games and nine in eight matches so far this season. He now has 68 tries in his 93 appearances for the Warriors as he edges towards his 100th outing for the club.
Saturday’s match against the Eels will be the 47th between the two clubs with Parramatta holding a 27-19 advantage.
The Eels are among the Warriors’ most challenging opponents having registered just one win in the last seven encounters dating back to 2019.
They’re also the Warriors’ most infrequent rivals in recent times, the two sides facing off only once in each of the last eight seasons.
While the Warriors sit second on the ladder after eight rounds, the Eels are 15th with four losses in the last five rounds.