Vatuvei’s Warriors career in jeopardy
NRL: Warriors giant Manu Vatuvei is staying put on the wing, if coach Stephen Kearney has anything to do with it.
The 189cm and 109kg, 226-game veteran has slipped behind Ken Maumalo, David Fusitu’a and rookie Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad for a first grade wing spot at the club.
Critics have suggested the 31-year-old could be reborn as an impact forward off the bench.
“I think it is too much of a challenge to play 200 games on the wing and then play what is a totally different position in the middle of the park,” Kearney told NRL.com.
“I don’t think that’s a possibility, not in the near future anyway.
“For me there’s an element to the game where if you get an even share of the football you have got to defend also, so the point with that one is that Manu has played on the wing for over 200 games and has probably had to make at the most 10 tackles in one game.
“In the forwards that’s a bare minimum. So I do think it would be a pretty challenging.”
Vatuvei (pictured) is the Warriors’ 18th man for today’s clash with Manly in Perth.
This year he has played just 53 minutes in one NRL appearance before injuring his knee in round three against the Bulldogs.
After being picked for his return to the top grade, Vatuvei injured a calf in the captain’s run before the round 10 meeting with Penrith.
Kearney said there would need to be injuries or suspensions to others in the backline first for the veteran to get a run on the wing.