Taylor to make NRL debut against Titans
Vodafone Junior Warriors captain Elijah Taylor will make his first-grade debut in a much-changed line-up for the club’s 22nd-round NRL clash against Gold Coast at Mount Smart Stadium on Sunday.
Hawera-born Taylor (19) replaces experienced Kiwi international Jerome Ropati in the centres, becoming Vodafone Warrior No 155 and the club’s eighth NRL debutant this year.
Still eligible for a third season with the Vodafone Junior Warriors in the National Youth Competition next season, the versatile Taylor can play in the centres, at standoff and in the back row.
Since the NYC began last year, he has missed only one of the Vodafone Junior Warriors’ 46 matches in the competition. He is the club’s eighth NYC player to be promoted to the first-grade side following Sonny Fai, Russell Packer and Ben Matulino last season plus Leeson Ah Mau, Daniel O’Regan, Kevin Locke and Isaac John this year. Ukuma Ta’ai, Lewis Brown and Aaron Heremaia have also made their initial NRL appearances this season.
While Ropati will be absent from the line-up this Sunday so will seasoned fullback Wade McKinnon, young standoff John and hooker Ian Henderson.
McKinnon has been stood down this week after arriving late at the Vodafone Warriors’ recovery session in Parramatta on Sunday following the 32-32 draw with Penrith on Saturday. He has been replaced at fullback by Locke while Patrick Ah Van returns on the right wing for his 51st match outside Taylor.
After playing the last three matches alongside Stacey Jones, John has been replaced at standoff by Heremaia, who’ll make his seventh appearance after being used mainly at hooker in his previous outings. He regularly plays in the halves for the Auckland Vulcans in the New South Wales Cup.
And Brown, who has been used in the back row so far, is given an opportunity in his first-choice position at hooker ahead of regular No 9 Henderson. With Brown moving into the starting line-up, second rower Ta’ai comes back onto the bench for his sixth NRL match while captain Steve Price, who missed the Penrith match with a rib cartilage injury, hasn’t been considered for a return yet.
Vodafone Warriors coach Ivan Cleary said the changes gave the side a fresh balance.
“In Elijah’s case, it’s great that we’re able to give a debut to another player who has come through our system,” he said.
“In the last two seasons we’ve seen the benefits of the NYC competition and the chance it has given us to bring through local players. It’s more proof the programme is working and in Elijah we have another player who clearly has a lot to offer. We used him in the trials this year and he has been close to breaking into the NRL for some time.
“While it’s exciting to have him in the side it’s disappointing that we’ve needed to stand Wade down. He has been playing strongly for us but we expect our players to abide by the team protocols we have in place.”
Cleary said that gave Locke the chance to play in his preferred position of fullback where he has excelled for the Vodafone Junior Warriors over the last two years.
Second rower Simon Mannering will make his 97th NRL appearance on Sunday while Cleary will also reach the same mark for games as the club’s NRL coach. They’re both set to mark their 100th milestones in the 25th-round encounter with the Bulldogs.
Along with fellow back rower Jacob Lillyman, Mannering is the only player who has appeared in all of the Vodafone Warriors’ 19 games so far this season.
Meanwhile, Micheal Luck, who’ll again captain the side this weekend, is well set to break the 1000-tackle barrier. After making an NRL record 74 tackles in the 14-14 extra-time draw with Melbourne earlier in the season, he finished with 65 in the golden point draw last Saturday night. That has boosted his season-high total to 838 in 18 games (an average 46.6 per match) with five rounds still to go in the regular season. Next best on 770 is one of his opponents on Sunday, Gold Coast hooker Nathan Friend. Luck was the NRL’s top tackler in the last two seasons with 957 tackles in 25 matches in 2008 and 959 in 26 games in 2007.
VODAFONE WARRIORS v GOLD COAST TITANS
Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
2.00pm, Sunday, August 9
VODAFONE WARRIORS
1KEVIN LOCKE
2PATRICK AH VAN
3ELIJAH TAYLOR
4JOEL MOON
5MANU VATUVEI
6AARON HEREMAIA
7STACEY JONES
8SAM RAPIRA
9LEWIS BROWN
10RUSSELL PACKER
11SIMON MANNERING
12BEN MATULINO
13MICHEAL LUCK (c)
Interchange:
14LANCE HOHAIA
15EVARN TUIMAVAVE
16JACOB LILLYMAN
17UKUMA TA’AI
COACH: IVAN CLEARY
http://www.warriors.co.nz/news/323/taylor-to-make-nrl-debut-against-titans
