NZ Warriors miss trio for Eels NRL round nine
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Three players have been ruled out but four are back in the New Zealand Warriors’ squad for Saturday’s round nine NRL match against the Parramatta Eels at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.
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.
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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 No 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.
Warriors: 1. Taine Tuaupiki, 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 4. Adam Pompey, 5. Alofiana Khan-Pereira, 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7. Tanah Boyd, 8. James Fisher-Harris, 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Jackson Ford, 11. Leka Halasima, 12. Kurt Capewell, 13. Erin Clark
Interchange: 14. Sam Healey, 15. Tanner Stowers-Smith, 16. Demitric Vaimauga, 17. Jacob Laban, 18. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, 20. Luke Metcalf
Reserves: 21. Kayliss Fatialofa, 22. Te Maire Martin, 23. Makaia Tafua
