After burning their bonus life last week, it’s last chance saloon time for the One New Zealand Warriors when they meet the Parramatta Eels in their New South Wales Cup preliminary final at Jubilee Stadium in Sydney on Saturday (5.15pm kick-off local time; 7.15pm NZT).
After losing only twice in their entire minor premiership-winning run in the regular season, the Warriors slumped to their most disappointing effort of the year in their week two finals encounter with St George Illawarra.
Coming into the contest from a week off, they were well below their standards in all departments as the Dragons dominated every key measure to win 24-10 to advance to the grand final.
Now the Warriors have to bounce back this week if they’re to secure a repeat battle with the Dragons in the premiership decider on September 28.
They’ll face a rejuvenated Parramatta which had the worst imaginable build-up to the finals with a 4-54 loss to the Warriors in round 25 followed by a 6-54 defeat by North Sydney in the final round.
Team Lists
Backs
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Fullback for Warriors is number 1 Taine TuaupikiFullback for Eels is number 1 Te Hurinui Twidle
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Winger for Warriors is number 2 Setu TuWinger for Eels is number 2 Jake Tago
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Centre for Warriors is number 4 Moala Graham-TaufaCentre for Eels is number 3 Araz Nanva
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Centre for Warriors is number 22 Ali LeiatauaCentre for Eels is number 4 Jordan Samrani
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Winger for Warriors is number 21 Edward KosiWinger for Eels is number 19 Beau Newlands
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Five-Eighth for Warriors is number 6 Luke HansonFive-Eighth for Eels is number 6 Lorenzo Talataina
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Halfback for Warriors is number 18 Tanah BoydHalfback for Eels is number 7 Ronald Volkman
Forwards
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Prop for Warriors is number 8 Bunty AfoaProp for Eels is number 8 Wiremu Greig
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Hooker for Warriors is number 9 Samuel HealeyHooker for Eels is number 9 Joey Lussick
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Prop for Warriors is number 10 Tanner Stowers-SmithProp for Eels is number 10 Toni Mataele
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 11 Kayliss Fatialofa2nd Row for Eels is number 11 Jezaiah Funa-Iuta
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 12 Eddie Ieremia-Toeava2nd Row for Eels is number 12 William Lewis
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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 7 Jett ClearyInterchange for Eels is number 14 Kruz Niutili-Schmidt
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Interchange for Warriors is number 14 Tom AleInterchange for Eels is number 15 Brock Parker
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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 20 Makaia TafuaInterchange for Eels is number 17 Tyrese Lokeni
Reserves
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Replacement for Warriors is number 17 Geronimo DoyleReplacement for Eels is number 21 Teancum Brown
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The Eels still had enough points in the bank to finish third on the ladder but, while they showed vast improvement, they lost 18-24 to the Dragons in their first playoff.
Then last week they muscled up to hold off Canberra 36-30 to reach the preliminary final. Playing a key hand for the Eels was former Warriors halfback Ronald Volkman with a second half hat-trick.
Now they face a Warriors side bruised after last week’s performance but also boosted with the return of two regulars from the NRL squad in rookie first graders Sam Healey and Tanner Stowers-Smith.
They’ve garnered significant experience on the NRL stage with Healey playing his seventh top grade game and Stowers-Smith his 13th in the 8-24 finals defeat by Penrith last Saturday night.
They provided a significant injection to the starting pack alongside veteran prop Bunty Afoa, boom youngsters Eddie Ieremia-Toeava and Kayliss Fatialofa in the second row and captain and loose forward Kalani Going, who this week won the club’s NSW Cup Player of the Year crown.
There’s a change in the backline with Setu Tu named to start on the wing replacing the injured Sio Kali, who has scored 12 tries in 12 appearances this season.
