NZ Warriors the worst-hit for injuries early with eight out
PETER THORNTON
It's early days but the Warriors are the worst-hit team for injuries so far in the 2016 NRL season.
The Auckland-based side, who lost to the Melbourne Storm 21-14 in their opening home game at Mt Smart on Sunday, have suffered eight injuries through the preseason and the first three games to be under pressure in the 26-round competition.
The Sydney Roosters, if you count Mitchell Pearce's absence for being stood down for his off-field indiscretions, are the next worst-hit on the injury list with seven players out with the Knights (six), Panthers (six) and Raiders (five) among the others struggling after round three.
The Warriors are hopeful about the return of fullback/ wing Henare Wells (hamstring) for their home game against the Knights on Monday and hooker Thomas Leuluai (ACL) next week for the clash against the Roosters in Sydney, but many more of the casualty ward are long-term concerns.
Marquee signing hooker Issac Luke, who was a late withdrawal for the team's first home game after suffering a knee injury in training, is an indefinite absence at this stage.
That is the same for prop Ligi Sao (shoulder), second-rower Ben Henry (knee), prop Sam
Lisone (shoulder), winger Manu Vatuvei (ribs), and livewire hooker Nathaniel
Roache (ankle), who was injured on the weekend.
The high injury rate played a huge role in the Warriors fall from grace at the end of the 2015 season. After they lost playmaker
Shaun Johnson with a horrific ankle injury, they lost several other key players and went on to drop their final eight games of the season to finish 13th.
Those woes have continued into the 2016 season, but it is not all bad news for coach Andrew McFadden heading into the round-four Easter Monday clash with the Knights.
Newcastle, also suffering injuries themselves, have a draw and two losses from their opening three fixtures and it shapes as a must-win clash to relieve the pressure on the coach and restore the team's belief.
One of the clear highlights from the hard-fought loss to the Storm was the performance of fullback
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
Under-fire coming into the fixture, the world-class fullback delivered in his first game at Mt Smart Stadium in Warriors colours.
Tuivasa-Sheck topped many of the key stats for the home side. He led the number of runs (25), ran for an incredible 247m and made seven line-breaks in his best game so far.
Bodene Thompson, while he made some mistakes with ball in hand, was once again the best defender making a team-high 52 tackles.
There were many more tackle breaks made by the Warriors (27 to the Storm's 17), but McFadden will be circling the completion rate (74 per cent compared to the Storm's 90), penalties conceded (nine to seven) and errors (nine to four) as the big work-ons for this week.
It has been a long time coming but there is enough to suggest that the Warriors, even with their injuries, will get their first NRL win since July this weekend against the Knights.
If they can get through this difficult period early in the season, it will bode well for the rest of their campaign with a number of high-profile recruits to come back into the fold.
Warriors casualty ward: Thomas Leuluai (ACL, Round 5), Henare Wells (hamstring, Round 4), Ligi Sao (shoulder, indefinite), Ben Henry (knee, indefinite), Sam
Lisone (shoulder, indefinite), Manu Vatuvei (ribs, indefinite), Issac Luke (leg, indefinite), Nathaniel
Roache (ankle, indefinite).
