Asi back in halves for the Warriors
Daejarn Asi has been chosen to start at five-eighth against the Bulldogs on Friday night.
Warriors interim coach Stacey Jones has rowed back on some of the dramatic team selections made last weekend in the 48-10 NRL loss to the Rabbitohs and has gone with a more familiar team.
Asi, who is out of contract at the end of the season and is unlikely to be offered a new deal by the Warriors, is back in the starting team to partner Shaun Johnson in the halves, even though there are concerns about his game defensively.
So with Asi in the 13, the experiment to play Wayde Egan at fiveeighth has come to an end, as he has been moved back to his regular position of hooker.
Euan Aitken’s brief time back at centre has come to an abrupt end, with the future Dolphin named in the second row, taking
Bayley Sironen’s spot, who has been relegated to the bench.
Josh Curran has been promoted from the interchange and will start at lock, replacing Aaron Pene.
In the backs, Viliame Vailea is in the team at centre, filling the hole left by Aitken’s move to the forwards.
Eliesa Katoa, who will leave the club at the end of the season for the Melbourne Storm, is on the interchange bench, while there is no space for Taniela Otukolo, who has been dropped to the reserves.
This will be the 37th game between the Warriors and Bulldogs, with the Warriors having won 16 previous encounters and the Bulldogs 18. There have been two draws.
The loss to the Rabbitohs last weekend was one of the club’s worst performances this year and it appeared that some players couldn’t wait for the season to end.
But Warriors management will be hoping that as they’re playing at Mt Smart Stadium this weekend, the players will be more up for it against a Bulldogs team that has started to play better footy towards the end of the season.