Warriors in round one

Won 26-18 Eels (Mt Smart Stadium) Park) Lost 18-24 Titans (away) Lost 24-18 Eels (Eden Park) Lost 26-20 Sea Eagles (Eden Lost 36-16 Eels (away) Lost 24-14 Knights (away) first competition hurdle.

It will take them some time to find their cohesion after Kearney’s arrival late last year saw their game plan undergo an overhaul.

At first glance the struggling Knights shape up as an ideal first round opponent, but the Warriors will be wary of an opposition outfit hungry to prove themselves as a team on the rise.

Two encouraging trial victories over Canberra (44-0) and Tweed Heads Seagulls (38-22) will give the Knights confidence after a disastrous 2016 season saw them claim just one win and a draw from 24 outings to finish bottom of the ladder for the second year running.

However, their promising preseason does little to mask the fact Newcastle are still to break an 18-game losing streak, and they will arrive in Auckland having won just one of their past 11 games at Warriors headquarters.

After taking over from former coach Rick Stone and interim coach Danny Buderus, Brown gave 11 players their NRL debuts last season .

That trend is set to continue after Brown confirmed last week that two more local juniors, forwards Sam Stone and Luke Yates, will be blooded in Newcastle’s first grade squad for round one. But with Jarrod Mullen facing a career-ending ban after testing positive to steroids and new recruit Rory Kostjasyn sidelined following a training accident, it will be left to Knights captain Trent Hodkinson, centre Dane Gagai and former Manly forward Jamie Buhrer to provide the experience.

The Warriors open their NRL season against the Newcastle Knights at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday at 4pm.