{"id":495799,"date":"2026-06-26T01:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T01:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495799\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T01:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T01:34:10","slug":"warriors-v-dolphins-mitchell-barnett-on-jackson-ford-pectoral-injury-and-challenge-ahead-in-brisbane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495799\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors v Dolphins: Mitchell Barnett on Jackson Ford pectoral injury and challenge ahead in Brisbane"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI know exactly how he feels. To be at the top of your game and have an injury like that, it\u2019s heartbreaking. Especially for him,<\/a> who\u2019s worked so hard to get to where he\u2019s at,\u201d the Warriors captain said.<\/p>\n

\"JacksonJackson Ford on the charge against the Roosters. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s a small window of positivity there that he will hopefully get to play footy again at the end of the year. And if there\u2019s anyone that can not play footy for 12 weeks or 10 weeks \u2013 however long it is \u2013 and come back out and play big minutes, it\u2019s Jacko Ford, because he\u2019s got a motor on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he\u2019ll do everything he can to get back out there and we\u2019ll hold it down in the meantime and yeah, looking forward to getting him back late in the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barnett is no stranger to major injuries. Last year, he missed the second half of the Warriors\u2019 campaign due to an ACL injury. He also underwent surgery for a damaged disc in his neck in 2020, an issue that reared its head again early in 2023 and he considered walking away from the game.<\/p>\n

Despite his experience with recovering from major injuries, he said he would not be offering any advice to Ford, as everyone had their own way of approaching such journeys.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, mate, to be fair, no one can really tell you anything. It\u2019s just you\u2019ve got to walk in your own shoes. You find out what works for you and that sort of thing. What works for me mightn\u2019t work for the next person,\u201d Barnett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m not here to, I guess, try and give anyone advice in that sense, but just as a friend, as a teammate, I\u2019m just here if people need me. If they want to talk about it, chew the fat and whether it\u2019s a good or a bad day for them, I\u2019m happy to celebrate the good wins and on the bad days, happy to put an arm around them and make sure they\u2019re all good. That\u2019s all I can do as a mate and as a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s injury will see Tanner Stowers-Smith return to the starting line-up alongside Barnett in the middle, while Kurt Capewell returns in the second row after not backing up from State Of Origin duties with Queensland last week. Hooker Sam Healey is also set to return after a thumb injury from the interchange.<\/p>\n

The Warriors travel to meet a fast-moving Dolphins side who have won seven games in a row, scoring an average of 37 points per game in that stretch. Over the last three weeks, the Dolphins have a lowest score of 36.<\/p>\n

Their most recent loss came in their last encounter with the Warriors, with the New Zealand side claiming a 20-18 win in Wellington in late April.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very hard in Wellington. They\u2019re just a very fit, well-coached side,\u201d Barnett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they get the basics right in terms of the physical side of the game every week. They\u2019re very physical, they go after the game and then they\u2019ve got some special players that, around their structures, they just seem to … score points, obviously with Hammer [fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow] and [halfback] Isaiya Katoa there, [centre] Herbie Farnworth, so we\u2019re going to have to be at our best to go with them this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity for us where we\u2019re at and looking forward to getting out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warriors casualty ward<\/p>\n

James Fisher-Harris \u2013 prop: calf, due back round 19<\/p>\n

Alofiana Khan-Pereira \u2013 wing: leg, return date TBC<\/p>\n

Leka Halasima \u2013 second row: hamstring, return date TBC<\/p>\n

Tanah Boyd \u2013 halfback: ACL, out for the season<\/p>\n

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck \u2013 wing\/centre: ACL, out for the season<\/p>\n

Warriors v Dolphins team lists<\/p>\n

Warriors: 1. Taine Tuaupiki, 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3. Ali Leiataua, 4. Adam Pompey, 5. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7. Te Maire Martin, 8. Tanner Stowers-Smith, 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Mitchell Barnett (c), 11. Jacob Laban, 12. Kurt Capewell, 13. Erin Clark<\/p>\n

Interchange (from): 14. Sam Healey, 15. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, 16. Demitric Vaimauga, 17. Marata Niukore, 18. Kayliss Fatialofa, 20. Luke Metcalf. Reserves: 21. Makaia Tafua, 22. Jye Linnane, 23. Jason Salalilo<\/p>\n

Dolphins: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, 2. Jamayne Isaako, 3. Jack Bostock, 4. Herbie Farnworth, 5. Selwyn Cobbo, 6. Kodi Nikorima, 7. Isaiya Katoa (c), 8. Thomas Flegler, 9. Jeremy Marshall-King, 10. Francis Molo, 11. Connelly Lemuelu, 12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, 13. Morgan Knowles<\/p>\n

Interchange (from): 14. Max Plath, 15. Kurt Donoghoe, 16. Ray Stone, 17. Felise Kaufusi, 18. Bradley Schneider, 19. Oryn Keeley. Reserves: 20. Tevita Naufahu, 21. Brian Pouniu, 22. Trai Fuller<\/p>\n

(Three players to be omitted from each team.)<\/p>\n

Christopher Reive<\/a> joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI know exactly how he feels. To be at the top of your game and have an injury…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3017,95,149286,9689,6636,33224,6210,149071,78,15258,30641,5430,111,139,69,90,248167,33397,213,248168,97592,3006,102,80],"class_list":["post-495799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ahead","tag-and","tag-barnett","tag-brisbane","tag-challenge","tag-dolphins","tag-ford","tag-fords","tag-in","tag-injury","tag-jackson","tag-mitchell","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-pectoral","tag-situation","tag-sports","tag-sympathise","tag-teammate","tag-warriors","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}