let him stay: NZ Warriors top key player Walker-Harris was suspended after the match due to his……
The One New Zealand Warriors have made a last-minute change to their starting lineup for tonight’s 15th-round NRL match against the Melbourne Storm at a sold-out Go Media Stadium (7:30pm kick-off; game day partner: Dynasty Sport).
Head coach Andrew Webster has again opted to start Dylan Walker at loose forward, moving captain Tohu Harris to the interchange, similar to the strategy used in last week’s game against the Cowboys.
Wayde Egan will take over the captaincy at the beginning of the match.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been named as the 18th man, with Tom Ale as the 19th man.
Veteran Shaun Johnson returns as halfback for the highly anticipated game against the league-leading Storm, marking his 263rd career appearance after recovering from a pectoral injury that sidelined him for the last three matches.
Johnson’s return, his 11th appearance in his 14th NRL season, means Te Maire Martin will move back to standoff. Utility player Chanel Harris-Tavita, who started as #6 in the matches against the Dolphins and North Queensland, is listed on the interchange to cover multiple positions.
The backline remains unchanged, and the starting forward pack is the same as originally named last week, although Tohu Harris was later benched with Dylan Walker starting.
The Warriors are riding a wave of consecutive wins against Penrith (22-20), the Dolphins (24-20), and North Queensland (42-12), their most complete performance this season. With two points from their 13th-round bye, they have 15 points and have moved to 10th place, just one point away from the top eight.
Last week’s return of key players Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Rocco Berry, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Tohu Harris, and Kurt Capewell bolstered the Warriors, and now Johnson’s return further strengthens the team.
In their last game, the Warriors dominated the Cowboys in Townsville with an 84 percent completion rate, outperforming the Cowboys in meters gained (1908-1327), post-contact meters (792-512), line breaks (7-2), tackle breaks (32-21), average set distance (43.37-36.86), and kick return meters (277-109), while making only 23 missed and ineffective tackles compared to the Cowboys’ 42.
This week, they face their toughest challenge in a decade, having lost 15 consecutive matches to the Storm since their last victory at Go Media Stadium in 2015.
