Confirmed Lineup: Starting pack switched for finale
Three changes have been made to the One New Zealand Warriors’ starting forward pack for their 2024 season finale against Cronulla Sutherland at PointsBet Stadium in Sydney tonight (7.35pm kick-off local time; 9.35pm NZT).
Jazz Tevaga has been brought off the bench to again start at prop while Freddy Lussick comes into the starting side at hooker.
That sees Wayde Egan moved to the interchange for his 100th appearance for the club, captain Mitchell Barnett switched to the second row and Marata Niukore going to the bench.
The confirmed bench comprises Egan, Niukore, prop Tom Ale and middle forward Demitric Sifakula. Chanel Harris-Tavita in the 18th man.
Dropped off the extended bench at the 24-hour deadline were winger Edward Kosi, utility Paul Roache and second rower Jacob Laban.
When he enters the contest, Egan will become player #30 – in what is the club’s season #30 – to reach the 100-game milestone for the Warriors.
His achievement comes on a night when halfback Shaun Johnson, middle forward Jazz Tevaga and prop Addin Fonua-Blake are playing their final games for the Warriors.
In a double coincidence Johnson makes his 268th and final career appearance against the club he represented for three seasons from 2019-2021 while Fonua-Blake faces the side he’s joining from next season.
And in another twist the One New Zealand Warriors end their campaign against the same side it started against with a 12-16 loss at Go Media Stadium on March 8.
They have lost frontline centres Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Adam Pompey for the match.
Tuivasa-Sheck is following NRL head injury protocols after being unable to return to the field following a tackle by Bulldogs centre Stephen Crichton early in the second half of last Friday’s clash when the Warriors were leading 18-16.
Crichton was placed on report only at the time but NRL head of football Graham Annesley admitted he should have been sent to the sin bin for a tackle which has ended Tuivasa-Sheck’s season. Pompey’s season was also over just 21 minutes into the game when he left the field with a knee injury.
With Rocco Berry sidelined with a shoulder injury, One New Zealand Warriors head coach Andrew Webster has reshuffled his centres and fullback with Taine Tuaupiki and Ali Leiataua called up from the club’s New South Wales Cup side.
First-choice fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad will start in the centres with Leiataua while Tuaupiki is in the #1 jersey.
In last Friday’s emphatic 42-10 NSW Cup win over the Bulldogs, Tuaupiki made 143 metres from 22 runs with three line break assists, four try assists and nine tackle breaks.
He’ll make his sixth NRL appearance of the season and the 11th of his career tonight while Leiataua will also play his sixth NRL match of the year.
For hooker Egan, his 100-game achievement for the Warriors is one of the most unusual in NRL history.
After making his club debut against the Knights in Newcastle in the opening round of the 2020 season, his first 50 outings were all played in Australia before playing at Go Media Stadium for the first time in the homecoming match against the Wests Tigers on July 3, 2020. Of his 99 games so far, only 22 have been played at his home ground.
