Murchie to ease injury crisis
WELLINGTON: The Warriors have completed a rushed signing of young Canberra forward Jack Murchie to ease their injury crisis heading into the NRL season resumption.
Former Junior Kangaroo Murchie joined the club at their Gosford base on Wednesday night, having been granted an early release on the final year of his Raiders contract.
The 22yearold completed a first training run with his new teammates yesterday and signed off on the details of his oneseason deal soon afterwards.
Having had few opportunities in two seasons at Canberra, Murchie looks a strong chance to be in the Warriors team to face St George Illawarra next week.
It follows the NRL’s refusal over the weekend to grant the Warriors access to a loan player following a spate of injuries, most notably to their middle forward contingent.
While Murchie has been regarded as a secondrower in Canberra, his 1.93m, 105kg frame will probably mean he will line up in the middle.
Coach Stephen Kearney was pleased to secure the services of a player with which the club had been linked with when injuries struck them in the preseason in February.
‘‘Jack joins us with an opportunity and expectation to play NRL,’’ Kearney said.
‘‘He comes highly recommended and we look forward to giving us some depth leading into our return to the competition next week.’’
Ulladulla product Murchie came through the Raiders junior system and his three first grade appearances have all been off the interchange.
He only made one appearance last season, struggling to break into a strong firstchoice pack that carried the Raiders to the grand final.
Warriors fiveeighth Chanel HarrisTavita was impressed by his first viewing of Murchie when they trained at their new Central Coast Stadium ‘‘home’’ ground for the first time yesterday.
‘‘He went well today and hopefully he can do a job for us in the middle,’’ HarrisTavita said.
‘‘But all the boys are putting their hands up. There’s a lot of young middles in there that want to put their hand up and become regular first graders.
‘‘‘The injuries will test how well our forwards can perform in different positions.’’