Starting spots on the line for Warriors in Titans trial game
The Warriors’ coaches will be keeping a close eye on how the centres and five-eighths go in tomorrow night’s rescheduled NRL trial against the Titans.
The game was supposed to take place at Moreton Daily Stadium in Redcliffe yesterday. But heavy rain led to it being postponed and it will now take place at Cbus Super Stadium at 10pm (NZT) tomorrow.
Warriors assistant coach Justin Morgan said postponing it a couple of days isn’t disruptive to their plans. When they do take to the field, they’ll look to build on last weekend’s 30-16 win over the Melbourne Storm, as well as solidify their thinking over who’ll wear the No 3, 4 and 6 jerseys in round one.
‘‘Last week’s game was satisfactory for a first hit-out,’’ Morgan said.
‘‘The most satisfying part of our game would be the ball movement. We scored some attractive tries and that’s a good thing, because it’s what we want to model our game on.
‘‘We feel as though we’ve got a squad that’s got the skill set to play an attractive brand of football and we did that last week. But looking through coaches’ eyes, there are always things to improve on, so come the game on Monday we’ll have some more things we want to improve on. Like more intensity with the way we defend and we want to be able to build more pressure with our kicking game.’’
Rocco Berry and Viliami Vailea have been named starting centres and, as the team selected appears to be the strongest possible, it suggests the pair will be the round one starters. Yet Morgan said it’s a battle that’s still up in the air.
‘‘It’s most probably a shootout between four,’’ Morgan said. ‘‘Jesse Arthars was a starter last week, but picked up an ankle issue and I’m pretty sure he won’t play against the Titans. Then you throw in Adam Pompey, so it’s trying to fit four into two.
‘‘It’s probably fair to say of the performance last week that
Rocco was very solid, Viliami wasn’t too far behind him and Adam has been training well.
‘‘Jesse has spent a lot of time training on both sides of the field, so it’s the area where we haven’t fully made up our minds, and it’s the area where how it goes against the Titans and how those four players train, that will dictate who’ll get the shot for round one.’’
Kodi Nikorima will start in the halves alongside Shaun Johnson tomorrow and it appears he’s slightly ahead of Ash Taylor in the coaches’ thinking.
‘‘Shaun has got one spot nailed down, so it’s a shootout between Kodi and Ash,’’ Morgan said. ‘‘Kodi has developed a good relationship with Shaun in international footy. While it’s a different environment, every time they’ve played together in the Kiwis, they’ve performed well and have a good understanding on the field.
‘‘But Ash is certainly in the running for the No 6 spot. At this stage it looks like Chanel will get the fullback position for round one, with Reece missing. But he will definitely be in the frame for that No 6 spot when Reece comes back.
‘‘We also believe that playing fullback will help Chanel when he goes back to the playmaking role. You’d most probably think that Kodi has got his neck out in front, but Ash is going to get plenty of time.’’