NZ Warriors hooker Wayde Egan Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Warriors have named an unchanged lineup for their second round NRL game against the Storm in Melbourne on Saturday.
Despite failing to finish last weekend's 16-12 loss to the Sharks because of an albow injury Wayde Egan has been named at hooker, while Kurt Capewell is set to play through the pain of a rib cartilage injury too after being named in the back row.
Veteran trio Jazz Tevaga, Te Maire Martin and Chanel Harris-Tavita are all in the extended squad after playing in reserve grade last week.
Egan played just 34 minutes as he sat out the rest of the game with an arm injury while Capewell's club debut was interrupted by an 11-minute stint on the bench with a rib issue before he returned to complete the last 21 minutes of the contest.
The Storm beat three-times premiership-winning Penrith Panthers in their opening game.
While the Warriors were unable to convert a fast start into a first-up win last week, they impressed in a number of areas with an 81 per cent completion rate, 1968 metres gained to the Sharks' 1467, a 34-19 advantage in tackle breaks and just 19 tackles missed.
Three players topped 200 metres, captain Tohu Harris making a game-high 237 from 27 runs, prop Addin Fonua-Blake 220 from 22 runs (plus six tackle breaks) and fullback Taine Tuaupiki 203 from 19 runs (also six tackle breaks) in his 72 minutes on the field.
Giving every Melbourne-Warriors contest extra edge is the Michael Moore Trophy, which hasn't been in the Warriors' hands since 2015 with the Storm winning 14 consecutive matches since then. The last time the Warriors won in Melbourne was on Anzac Day 2014 when they prevailed 16-10.
This will be the 51st contest between the clubs, Melbourne holding a commanding 32-16 advantage with two draws.
The Storm have a few injury concerns with star five-eighth Cameron Munster and big man Nelson Asofa-Solomona both unavailable.