Warriors aim to end run of 16 losses to Storm
- Dave Worsley
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Loose forward Erin Clark will reach his 100 game career milestone in the One New Zealand Warriors’ sixth-round NRL contest against the Storm at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Sunday
The feat has been a long eight years in the making for the 27-year-old Manurewa Marlins
junior with Melbourne the common denominator in both his first and his 100th games.
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His debut as a 19-year-old against the Storm on March 10, 2017, lasted just six minutes
and he then had to wait more than three years before making his way back onto the NRL
stage with the Gold Coast Titans in 2020.
It was a comeback that came via a brief stint with Canberra and then playing local footy
back in Auckland before the Titans offered him an opportunity.
Established as a first-choice starting forward since returning to the Warriors this season,
Clark is set to have a vital role to play against the Warriors’ most difficult opponent.
He’s included in a starting lineup which is identical to the one originally named for the
round four clash against Wests Tigers before Rocco Berry was ruled out with a minor
hamstring strain.
Berry is included again after missing the Warriors’ last 14 matches following a season-
ending shoulder injury in the round 15 match against the Storm in June last year.
He has made his way back with the club’s New South Wales Cup side, playing in each of
the Warriors’ first three wins of the season.
With Berry in the centres, Adam Pompey, playing his 99th game, moves to the wing after
Edward Kosi filled the role in the dramatic 26-24 win over the Tigers in round four.
The interchange is unchanged from the one used against the Tigers with prop Bunty Afoa
again named to fill the vacancy left by Dylan Walker’s departure.
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After three straight hard-fought wins over Manly Warringah, the Sydney Roosters and the
Tigers, the Warriors come off their first bye to face the formidable Storm.
At stake again on Saturday will be the Michael Moore Trophy which the Warriors haven’t
held for 10 years as they’ve endured a run of 16 straight defeats
Warriors to face Storm:
1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2 Taine Tuaupiki, 3 Rocco Berry, 4 Ali Leiataua, 5 Adam Pompey,
6 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7 Luke Metcalf, 8 James Fisher0-Harris, 9 Wayde Egan, 10 Mitchell Barnett (c), 11 Kurt Capewell, 12 Marata Niukore, 13 Erin Clark
Interchange: 14 Bunty Afoa, 15 Jackson Ford, 16 Demitric Vaimauga, 17 Leka Halasima
Extended bench:, 18 Tanah Boyd, 20 Jacob Laban, 21 Sam Healey, 22 Te Maire Martin,
23 Ed Kosi,