Former Warriors Reece Walsh gifted victory to his old team, when he kicked off dead in April. Photo: RNZ
Warriors v Broncos
Kickoff: 5pm Saturday, 28 June
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
History
Brisbane Broncos will always hold a significant place on Warriors folklore, as their very first opponents in their 1995 NRL debut. No-one at the ground that night will ever forget the pre-game live army display, with commandoes scaling down the Mt Smart grandstand before their very eyes.
This will be the 51st meeting between the two teams, with the Warriors winning 22, Broncos 27 and one drawn so far. Brisbane enjoy a 10-4 advantage playing at Suncorp Stadium, but the Warriors have actually won twice at the venue this season, taking down North Queensland Cowboys at 'Magic Round' and then accounting for the Dolphins two weeks later.
Recent contests have proved competitive, with Brisbane winning four of the last six, but Warriors have taken out the last two. Chanel Harris-Tavita had a try double in the 32-16 victory at Auckland last season, while Luke Metcalf kicked a Golden Point penalty - the result of former Warriors Reece Walsh overcooking his kickoff - for the 20-18 win in April.
Form
The Warriors are reeling from their fourth defeat of the season, albeit to four-time defending champions Penrith Panthers, conceding three tries in the space of 15 minutes to a side depleted by Origin commitments.
The result continued a worrying trend of struggling to regroup off bye weeks - they have now lost twice after a week's rest and have another bye coming up next week.
They remain in the top four on the table, with a four-point buffer to their next closest pursuers, but they must win this week to retain that margin, with Sydney Roosters benefiting from an automatic two points from the bye.
The Broncos have struggled for consistency this season and the murmuring was already being heard for coach Michael Maguire. Wins over Gold Coast and Cronulla have bookended a bye to greatly improve their standing, and they seem to be coming around.
They are 2-5 against teams currently in the playoff picture, but one of those wins was against top-of-the-table Canterbury Bulldogs.
Teams
Warriors: 1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2 Ed Kosi, 3 Adam Pompey, 4 Rocco Berry, 5 Rog-er Tuivasa-Sheck, 6 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7 Luke Metcalf, 8 James Fisher-Harris, 9 Wayde Egan, 10 Marata Niukore, 11 Kurt Capewell, 12 Jacob Laban, 13 Erin Clark
Interchange: 14 Te Maire Martin, 15 Jackson Ford, 16 Demitric Vaimauga, 17 Leka Halasima
Reserves: 20 Tanah Boyd, 22 Bunty Afoa
With winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak sidelined for at least a month with an ankle injury, coach Andrew Webster has opted for Ed Kosi as his replacement, rather than Taine Tuaupiki, who filled the role through the first nine rounds of the campaign.
Kurt Capewell returns from Origin duty and slots into the second row, with Leka Halasima shifted to the interchange. Rocco Berry is back from his latest hamstring niggle in the centres.
Broncos: 1 Reece Walsh, 2 Josiah Karapani, 3 Katoni Staggs, 4 Gehamat Shibasaki, 5 Jesse Arthars, 6 Ezra Mam, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Corey Jensen, 9 Cory Paix, 10 Payne Haas, 11 Brendan Piakura, 12 Jordan Riki, 13 Patrick Carrigan
Interchange: 14 Billy Walters, 15 Kobe Hetherington, 16 Xavier Willison, 17 Jack Gosiewski
Reserves: 18 Tyson Smoothy, 19 Selwyn Cobbo
Maguire has stuck with the same line-up that did the job against Cronulla last time out, including former Warriors Walsh and Jesse Arthars.
Significantly, Selwyn Cobbo, who has confirmed a shit to the Dolphins next season, has been retained in the reserves, despite seemingly falling out of favour with Maguire.
Player to watch
Brisbane's uptick in form seemed to co-incide with the return of fullback Reece Walsh from a knee injury suffered during his last appearance against the Warriors.
No doubt, Walsh is the Broncos' most dangerous attacking weapon, so containing him will be crucial for the Warriors - but they know that all too well.
Kiwi to watch
Christchurch-born Jordan Riki made his NZ Kiwis test debut last year in his hometown against Australia. The second-rower continues to be a strong and consistent perform-er for the Broncos, and part of a pack that also contains Origin stars Payne Haas and Patrick Carrigan.
What will happen
The Broncos seem to be slowly bringing their game around, adapting to Maguire's au-thoritarian approach, while the Warriors may be suffering speed wobbles, after their solid start to the season.
They haven't lost consecutive games yet, but Brisbane will have to take the parochial ex-pat Kiwi crowd out of the game. Give this one to the Wahs.
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