Jazz Tevaga of the Warriors. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Warriors head coach Andrew Webster has been able to name his most experienced players for the first time this season for Saturday night's NRL play-off game against the Panthers in Penrith.
Those rested for last weekend's final regular seaon game against the Dolphins return to the side along with forward Jazz Tevaga also returning after injury.
Tevaga has been named on the bench after missing the last three games of the regular season with a hamstring injury.
It was only his second match back in a season in which he has been limited to just eight appearances.
Of the eight matches he has played in the Warriors have won six.
After being used from the interchange in his last outing against St George Illawarra, second rower Jackson Ford returns to the starting line-up with Josh Curran going back to the bench.
Warriors head coach Andrew Webster during training. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The match-up is a repeat of the New Zealand Warriors' last finals match in week one of the 2018 play-offs but both sides were then in the bottom half of the top eight, the fifth-placed Panthers beating the eighth-placed Warriors 27-12.
Warriors survivors from that match are halfback Shaun Johnson and forwards Tohu Harris and Tevaga while Bunty Afoa is named on the extended bench.
Winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was at fullback for the Panthers that day.
Since then the Panthers have set the benchmark in the NRL, playing in three consecutive grand finals and winning the last two in 2021 and 2022 while wrapping up the 2023 minor premiership.
The two teams met only once in the 2023 regular season, the Panthers winning 18-6 in May.
After that defeat the Warriors went on a run which netted 11 wins from 13 matches before losing to the Dolphins when they fielded a combination missing a host of frontline players.
This is the ninth finals campaign in the Warriors' history, only the third time they've been in the top four.
WARRIORS
1 CHARNZE NICOLL-KLOKSTAD
2 DALLIN WATENE-ZELEZNIAK
3 ROCCO BERRY
4 ADAM POMPEY
5 MARCELO MONTOYA
6 TE MAIRE MARTIN
7 SHAUN JOHNSON
8 ADDIN FONUA-BLAKE
9 WAYDE EGAN
10 MITCHELL BARNETT
11 JACKSON FORD
12 MARATA NIUKORE
13 TOHU HARRIS (c)
Interchange:
14 DYLAN WALKER
15 JAZZ TEVAGA
16 BAYLEY SIRONEN
17 JOSH CURRAN
Extended bench:
18 FREDDY LUSSICK
20 TAINE TUAUPIKI
21 BUNTY AFOA
22 TOM ALE
23 EDWARD KOSI