Sam Rapira, Glen Fisiiahi and Sione Lousi all return from injury for the Vodafone Warriors’ 16th-round New South Wales Cup encounter with the Mounties at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday (2.40pm kick-off; match day sponsor: flava).
Fisiiahi, who has made 24 NRL appearances, will start at fullback while Lousi (43 NRL games) has been named in the second row.
Rapira (170 NRL games) has been included on the interchange as he comes back from a knee injury in his 10th and final NRL season before joining Huddersfield in the English Super League.
Also coming into the line-up after last weekend's bye are Jonathan Wright on the wing, Sam Lisone in the front row and Sebastine Ikahihifo at loose forward.
In their last outing on June 13, the Stacey Jones-coached Vodafone Warriors shut out Wyong 28-0 but the combination named to take on Canberra’s feeder side on Saturday is significantly changed.
HIGHLIGHTS | VODAFONE WARRIORS v WYONG
Apart from the six NRL players added, two Vodafone Junior Warriors have been promoted from the NYC side with Nathaniel Roache making his second NSW Cup appearance at hooker and standoff Ata Hingano debuting at this level. Roache replaces Siliva Havili, who is on the NRL side’s bench again, while Hingano replaces the departed Api Pewhairangi, who has signed with Irish rugby union club Connacht.
With their win against Wyong and two points from the bye round, the Vodafone Warriors are third on the ladder on 20 points with the Mounties one point ahead in second.
VODAFONE WARRIORS v MOUNTIES
Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
2.40pm, Saturday, June 27
Referee: Jamal Thompson
VODAFONE WARRIORS
1 GLEN FISIIAHI
2 MATTHEW ALLWOOD
3 DAVID FUSITU’A
4 DOMINIQUE PEYROUX
5 JONATHAN WRIGHT
6 ATA HINGANO
7 MASON LINO
8 SAM LISONE
9 NATHANIEL ROACHE
10 NATHANIEL PETERU
11 JOHN PALAVI (c)
12 SIONE LOUSI
13 SEBASTINE IKAHIHIFO
Interchange:
14 DAVID BHANA
15 SAM RAPIRA
16 JAMES BELL
17 ZAC TIPPINS
18 VILIAMI KAVEINGA
COACH: STACEY JONES
BUY TICKETS NOW | #ONESIEPARTY | VODAFONE WARRIORS v CANBERRA
