First faces second when the One New Zealand Warriors meet the Parramatta Eels in Saturday’s second to last round of the regular season ahead of the New South Wales Cup finals in two weeks.
The round 25 encounter at Trusts Arena in Waitakere (1.00pm kick-off) is vital for the home side as it looks to not only recover from just its second loss of the season but to also tune up for the playoffs.
With a top five format in place, the minor premiership-winning Warriors will have week one off on September 6 so tomorrow’s clash against the Eels is one of only two matches they’ll have before being in finals action.
After putting together an extraordinary unbeaten run of 16 matches since April, the Warriors couldn’t quite engineer another comeback win as they went down 18-20 to Penrith last week, just their second loss of the season.
Match: Warriors v Eels
Round 25 -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Eels
Team Lists
Backs
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Fullback for Warriors is number 20 Taine TuaupikiFullback for Eels is number 14 Zachary Hunter
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Winger for Warriors is number 2 Sio KaliWinger for Eels is number 2 Jake Tago
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Centre for Warriors is number 3 Morgan HarperCentre for Eels is number 3 Araz Nanva
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Centre for Warriors is number 4 Moala Graham-TaufaCentre for Eels is number 4 Richard Penisini
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Winger for Warriors is number 5 Edward KosiWinger for Eels is number 18 Samuel Loizou
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Five-Eighth for Warriors is number 6 Caleb LaimanFive-Eighth for Eels is number 6 Lorenzo Talataina
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Halfback for Warriors is number 7 Jett ClearyHalfback for Eels is number 7 Matthew Hunter
Forwards
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Prop for Warriors is number 10 Harry DurbinProp for Eels is number 8 Wiremu Greig
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Hooker for Warriors is number 14 Makaia TafuaHooker for Eels is number 9 Meni Luke
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Prop for Warriors is number 17 Rodney Tuipulotu VeaProp for Eels is number 10 Brock Parker
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 11 Kayliss Fatialofa2nd Row for Eels is number 11 Tyrese Lokeni
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 12 Tom Ale2nd Row for Eels is number 12 Jezaiah Funa-Iuta
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Lock for Warriors is number 13 Kalani GoingLock for Eels is number 13 Dan Keir
Interchange
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Interchange for Warriors is number 1 Geronimo DoyleInterchange for Eels is number 15 William Lewis
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Interchange for Warriors is number 15 Jason Seu SalaliloInterchange for Eels is number 16 Ryda Talagi
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Interchange for Warriors is number 16 Toby CrosbyInterchange for Eels is number 17 Ieti Samuelu
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Interchange for Warriors is number 22 Jacob AuloaInterchange for Eels is number 19 Liam Scolari
Reserves
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Replacement for Warriors is number 18 Setu Tu
Last updated:
Despite the defeat, they still lead the competition by a whopping eight points from the Eels, who slipped into second spot last week after the Dragons lost.
This will be the Warriors’ first match at home in four weeks with their huge 68-6 win over South Sydney followed by three consecutive away games against St George Illawarra, Canterbury Bankstown and Parramatta.
The key feature of the side announced on Tuesday is the return of centre Moala Graham-Taufa, who sat out last week’s match. The side’s top equal try scorer with 12, he returns in the centres for his 66th NSW Cup career appearance.
Lining up once again in the back row are captain Kalani Going and Kayliss Fatialofa, who has just been re-signed on a two-year NRL contract to the end of the 2027 season.
The 28-year-old Going will play his 80th NSW Cup game tomorrow. He has been a huge contributor to the Warriors’ success averaging 116 metres and 28 tackles a game with seven tries and 47 tackle breaks while Fatialofa sits alongside Graham-Taufa with most tries (12), averaging 98 metres and 27 tackles a game with 12 line breaks, 12 off loads and 62 tackle breaks.
It says everything about the club’s future potential that eight of the players named in the squad on Tuesday are 21 or younger – Sio Kali (20), Jett Cleary (20), Fatialofa (20), Jason Salalilo (20), Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea (20), Caleb Laiman (21), Harry Durbin (21) and Makaia Tafua (21) while Toby Crosby turned 22 only last month.
