Veteran hooker Issac Luke has been confirmed to replace the injured Nate Roache in tonight’s 10th-round NRL match against Penrith at Panthers Stadium in Sydney (6.00pm kick-off local time; 8.00pm NZT).
Luke will wear jersey No 22 after being left out of the squad for last week’s clash against St George Illawarra in Brisbane.
The rest of the line-up is as named with a bench of Jazz Tevaga, Bunty Afoa, Ligi Sao and Karl Lawton.
The Vodafone Warriors are 12th on the ladder on six points while the Panthers are 15th on four points after a 4-30 defeat by the Wests Tigers last Friday night, their fifth loss on end.
The Panthers enjoy a handy 24-17 winning advantage over the Vodafone Warriors in 42 matches between the two clubs (with one draw) since 1995. At home, Penrith has a 13-7 edge with one draw and hasn’t lost to the Vodafone Warriors at Panthers Stadium since 2012.
Seven of the last nine meetings have ended in Penrith victories, the only two exceptions coming at Mount Smart Stadium last year and in 2016.
The last time the teams met Penrith prevailed in 27-12 in the week one finals encounter at ANZ Stadium last September.
VODAFONE WARRIORS v PENRITH PANTHERS
6.00pm, Friday, May 17, 2019
Panthers Stadium, Penrith
Referees: Henry Perenara and Jon Stone
VODAFONE WARRIORS
1 ROGER TUIVASA-SHECK (c)
2 DAVID FUSITU’A
3 PETA HIKU
4 PATRICK HERBERT
5 KEN MAUMALO
6 KODI NIKORIMA
7 BLAKE GREEN
8 AGNATIUS PAASI
22 ISSAC LUKE
10 LEESON AH MAU
11 ISAIAH PAPALI’I
12 TOHU HARRIS
13 LACHLAN BURR
Interchange:
14 JAZZ TEVAGA
15 BUNTY AFOA
16 LIGI SAO
17 KARL LAWTON
HEAD COACH | STEPHEN KEARNEY
