Warriors won’t gamble on playmaker in historical clash
It's a measure of the Warriors' progress this year that Blake Green won't be risked on Friday against Canberra.
Green wasn't considered for selection, not quite recovered from a calf injury sustained in the narrow loss to the Bulldogs on August 19.
The Australian playmaker has been crucial to the Warriors this year, with his calm authority, game management and organisational skills.
“We just felt he wasn't quite right, he wasn't 100 per cent,” head coach Stephen Kearney told Radio Sport.
“It was really important that he didn't make it any worse and it was better to give him another week off. [But] he wasn't too far away.”
It's a novel situation.
In many other years, players like Green would have been thrown back into action, often as the Warriors searched for a face-saving win or hung on to a desperate mathematical possibility of a finals spot.
That's not necessary now, after the Warriors guaranteed themselves playoff football with their 36-16 victory over Penrith last Friday night.
But it's also a reflection on the depth and belief at the club. It wasn't so long ago, the Warriors would fall apart when they lost a key player, but in 2018, they've won big games without the likes of Shaun Johnson, Simon Mannering, Tohu Harris and Green.
The eighth-placed Warriors are one of four teams on 30 points. Friday night is a must-win match to maintain momentum and keep alive their hopes of securing a home playoff. They will achieve that if they beat the Raiders, and two of the Panthers (versus the Storm), Dragons (versus the Knights) and Broncos (versus the Sea Eagles) fail to win.
Should the teams remain level, points differential will come into play. The Warriors’ differential is worse than the Broncos by just three points, the Dragons by 16 and the Panthers by 29.
Mason Lino will be entrusted with the five-eighth position again, having been part of memorable victories over the Dragons, Roosters and Panthers this year.
Lino's attitude and dedication to training was obvious last Friday, as he stepped up to first grade without missing a beat.
He played a key role in a couple of tries, scored one himself, linked well and kicked with authority. The inclusion of Gerard Beale on the bench is the only change to the 17.
Beale has recovered from the hamstring complaint that saw him miss the Penrith clash, though Peta Hiku performed well in his absence.
● Simon Mannering will take centre stage in an otherwise unchanged starting line-up with his historic 300th NRL appearance.
And the 32-year-old should get the farewell he deserves, with the ‘house full’ sign expected to go up at Mt Smart.
Late last night, there were only around 3000 tickets still available, after a successful promotion yesterday saw more than 10,000 snapped up in less than eight hours.
Wing David Fusitu’a is also chasing history, trying to become the first Warrior to top the try-scoring list for the regular season. His hat-trick against Penrith lifted him to 21 tries, with Cronulla’s Valentine Holmes second on 20. Manu Vatuvei (20 tries in 2010) is the only other Warriors player to reach the 20-try mark in a regular season.