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Confirmed Lineup: Walker-Harris switch again

One late switch has again been made to the One New Zealand Warriors’ starting lineup for tonight’s 15th-round NRL clash against the Melbourne Storm at a sold-out Go Media Stadium (7.30pm kick-off; game day partner: Dynasty Sport).

As he did last for last week’s match against the Cowboys, head coach Andrew Webster has brought Dylan Walker in to start at loose forward with captain Tohu Harris moving to the interchange.

Wayde Egan will take on the captaincy duties for the opening period of the contest.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been confirmed as 18th man with Tom Ale 19th man.

Team Lists

Backs

  • Fullback for Warriors is number 1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
    Fullback for Storm is number 1 Sualauvi Faalogo
  • Winger for Warriors is number 2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
    Winger for Storm is number 2 Grant Anderson
  • Centre for Warriors is number 3 Rocco Berry
    Centre for Storm is number 3 Dean Ieremia
  • Centre for Warriors is number 4 Adam Pompey
    Centre for Storm is number 4 Nick Meaney
  • Winger for Warriors is number 5 Marcelo Montoya
    Winger for Storm is number 5 Xavier Coates
  • Five-Eighth for Warriors is number 6 Te Maire Martin
    Five-Eighth for Storm is number 6 Tyran Wishart
  • Halfback for Warriors is number 7 Shaun Johnson
    Halfback for Storm is number 7 Jahrome Hughes

Forwards

  • Prop for Warriors is number 8 Addin Fonua-Blake
    Prop for Storm is number 8 Tui Kamikamica
  • Hooker for Warriors is number 9 Wayde Egan
    Hooker for Storm is number 9 Harry Grant
  • Prop for Warriors is number 10 Jackson Ford
    Prop for Storm is number 10 Josh King
  • 2nd Row for Warriors is number 11 Marata Niukore
    2nd Row for Storm is number 11 Shawn Blore
  • 2nd Row for Warriors is number 12 Mitchell Barnett
    2nd Row for Storm is number 12 Eliesa Katoa
  • Lock for Warriors is number 15 Dylan Walker
    Lock for Storm is number 13 Trent Loiero

Interchange

  • Interchange for Warriors is number 13 Tohu Harris
    Interchange for Storm is number 15 Christian Welch
  • Interchange for Warriors is number 14 Chanel Harris-Tavita
    Interchange for Storm is number 16 Nelson Asofa-Solomona
  • Interchange for Warriors is number 16 Jazz Tevaga
    Interchange for Storm is number 18 Joe Chan
  • Interchange for Warriors is number 17 Kurt Capewell
    Interchange for Storm is number 19 Jack Howarth

Reserves

  • Replacement for Warriors is number 20 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
    Replacement for Storm is number 17 Bronson Garlick

Match Officials

  • Referee: Gerard Sutton
  • Touch Judge: Phil Henderson
  • Senior Review Official: Liam Kennedy

Last updated:

Veteran Shaun Johnson is back at halfback for the much-anticipated encounter with the competition-leading Storm.

After missing the club’s last three matches with a pectoral injury, the 33-year-old is set for his 263rd career appearance.

Johnson’s inclusion for his 11th appearance in his 14th NRL season sees Te Maire Martin, who has been impressive at halfback in the last three games, reverting to standoff.

Utility Chanel Harris-Tavita, the starting #6 against the Dolphins and North Queensland, has been named on the interchange to provide cover for a number of positions.

The rest of the backline remains unchanged while the starting forward pack is the same as the one originally named last week although captain Tohu Harris was later shifted to the bench with Dylan Walker starting.

The Warriors are coming off a run of consecutive wins over three-times premier Penrith (22-20), the fourth-placed Dolphins (24-20) and North Queensland (42-12), their most complete performance of the season.

Along with two points from their 13th-round bye, the One New Zealand Warriors now have 15 points and have climbed to 10th within one point of the top eight.

Last week the side was bolstered by the return of key players Charnze-Nicoll Klokstad, Rocco Berry, Addin Fonua-Blake, Wayde Egan, Tohu Harris and Kurt Capewell and now Johnson comes back to further strengthen the lineup.

Last Saturday night the Warriors completely dominated the Cowboys in their second straight win in Townsville.

With a completion rate of 84 per cent, they were well ahead of the Cowboys in metres gained (1908-1327), post-contact metres (792-512), line breaks (7-2), tackle breaks (32-21), average set distance (43.37-36.86) and kick return metres (277-109) while they had a total of just 23 missed and ineffective tackles compared to the Cowboys’ 42.

This week they face their toughest opponent of the past 10 years having lost 15 times on end to the Storm stretching back to their last win at Go Media Stadium in 2015.

Acknowledgement of Country

The New Zealand Warriors honour the mana of the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, Australia and the Pacific. We acknowledge the traditional kaitiaki of the lands, elders past and present, their stories, their traditions, their mamae and their mana motuhake.

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