Lino gets surprise call-up to replace Johnson

Mason Lino’s out-of-the-blue call-up to the Warriors’ first grade side is a blessing and a curse.

Lino has been named to replace the injured Shaun Johnson in the team to face North Queensland, preferred ahead of Ata Hingano for the round 20 clash on Saturday.

It will be his first NRL appearance in almost two years, since he played three games during the awful end to the 2015 season, when the Warriors lost six straight after Johnson suffered his ankle injury.

While Lino, who is the only change to the Warriors’ 17, will be thrilled at the opportunity, it’s another deep end scenario.

Coming into a team who have lost two consecutive matches, that needs a victory keep their season alive, on the toughest road trip in the NRL, at a ground where the Warriors have won once in 11 attempts.

Welcome back to first grade Mr Lino. Players such as Lino, who has yet to win an NRL match , must glance enviously at rookies in other clubs, who often get much softer introductions to first grade, entering a winning dressing room with less pressure.

But it’s the way it is for the 23-yearold, and reward for two consistent seasons in the Intrust Super Premiership team, who he led to the finals last year and are second after 19 rounds in this year’s competition.

Lino is a solid player, and his organisational skills must have been judged as superior to Hingano, who is on the bench as cover for both halves and hooker. It will leave supporters of Hingano scratching their heads though, especially as the Tongan has been earmarked — at this stage — to wear the No 6 jersey next year after Kieran Foran’s departure.

“It’s tough losing a player of Shaun’s calibre but we know Mason will do a good job for us,” said coach Stephen Kearney.

“He has been really consistent for our ISP side. At the same time, we have Ata on the bench with his ability to cover the halves and hooker.”

Perhaps more surprising is Kearney’s decision to make no other changes, despite the poor 34-22 loss to Penrith last Friday. Some players, particularly among the forwards, must be testing Kearney’ patience but his selection probably says as much about the current depth at the club as his famous loyalty.

The Warriors have an awful record in Townsville. While the sides have split their 36 previous NRL encounters with 18 wins each, the Auckland club have won just once in North Queensland since 2002.

Jacob Lillyman will play his 246th career match when he faces his original NRL side (his 184th for the Warriors) while wing David Fusitu’a lines up for his 51st first-grade game, after his milestone slipped under the radar last week.