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Micheal Lucks run of 70 consecutive NRL appearances has been ended by a shoulder injury.
The 26-year-old loose forward has been left out of the line-up for the round 23 clash against Cronulla at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
The NRLs top tackler was forced off the field in the 60th minute of last Saturday nights 16-12 win over Brisbane and is likely to be sidelined for two matches at this stage.
Since joining the Vodafone Warriors for the 2006 season, the former North Queensland back rower hadnt missed a match until now.
He was the NRLs top tackler last season 959 in 26 games, an average of 37 tackles a match and he has been even more prolific this year. Even though he was on the field only 60 minutes, he made 32 tackles to lift his total to 801 in 20 games (40 a game).
Its a real shame for Lucky and disappointing for us because he makes such a huge contribution to the side consistently every week, said coach Ivan Cleary.
Considering the workload he has and the job hes required to do, its a tribute to him that he has been able to put such a long run of appearances together.
With Luck out of the line-up, 19-year-old Ben Matulino is promoted from the bench to make his first start at NRL level after being used as an interchange player in his first eight appearances. Last Friday he was one of nine Vodafone Warriors named in New Zealands 49-man train-on squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
Ben has made a really good start at first-grade level. Hes worked hard off the bench and this is a great chance for him, said Cleary.
Matulino goes into the second row with Logan Swann switching to loose forward for his 189th career match. The new player on the bench is 158-game veteran Wairangi Koopu returning for his sixth game of the year, his first since the June 6 clash against South Sydney.
When the Vodafone Warriors and Cronulla met in Sydney in June Matulino made his first-grade debut that night the Sharks won 24-8.
The Vodafone Warriors go into Saturdays match with a 10 wins-10 losses record this season, sitting on 24 points in a share of sixth place but 10th on points differential. This will be their second to last home match of the regular season. So far theyve won seven of their 10 matches at Mt Smart Stadium.
Their last three matches have all been tense, tight contests beating Melbourne 8-6 and Brisbane 16-12 while losing to South Sydney 16-18.
Having only his second outing of the year will be fullback Wade McKinnon.
Despite being sidelined for close to six months after knee surgery, he was impressive against the Broncos. As well as scoring a try in his 100th career game, he had more runs than any player on the field 22 and gained 185 metres, a total bettered only by Jerome Ropatis 205 metres.
www.warriors
The 26-year-old loose forward has been left out of the line-up for the round 23 clash against Cronulla at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
The NRLs top tackler was forced off the field in the 60th minute of last Saturday nights 16-12 win over Brisbane and is likely to be sidelined for two matches at this stage.
Since joining the Vodafone Warriors for the 2006 season, the former North Queensland back rower hadnt missed a match until now.
He was the NRLs top tackler last season 959 in 26 games, an average of 37 tackles a match and he has been even more prolific this year. Even though he was on the field only 60 minutes, he made 32 tackles to lift his total to 801 in 20 games (40 a game).
Its a real shame for Lucky and disappointing for us because he makes such a huge contribution to the side consistently every week, said coach Ivan Cleary.
Considering the workload he has and the job hes required to do, its a tribute to him that he has been able to put such a long run of appearances together.
With Luck out of the line-up, 19-year-old Ben Matulino is promoted from the bench to make his first start at NRL level after being used as an interchange player in his first eight appearances. Last Friday he was one of nine Vodafone Warriors named in New Zealands 49-man train-on squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
Ben has made a really good start at first-grade level. Hes worked hard off the bench and this is a great chance for him, said Cleary.
Matulino goes into the second row with Logan Swann switching to loose forward for his 189th career match. The new player on the bench is 158-game veteran Wairangi Koopu returning for his sixth game of the year, his first since the June 6 clash against South Sydney.
When the Vodafone Warriors and Cronulla met in Sydney in June Matulino made his first-grade debut that night the Sharks won 24-8.
The Vodafone Warriors go into Saturdays match with a 10 wins-10 losses record this season, sitting on 24 points in a share of sixth place but 10th on points differential. This will be their second to last home match of the regular season. So far theyve won seven of their 10 matches at Mt Smart Stadium.
Their last three matches have all been tense, tight contests beating Melbourne 8-6 and Brisbane 16-12 while losing to South Sydney 16-18.
Having only his second outing of the year will be fullback Wade McKinnon.
Despite being sidelined for close to six months after knee surgery, he was impressive against the Broncos. As well as scoring a try in his 100th career game, he had more runs than any player on the field 22 and gained 185 metres, a total bettered only by Jerome Ropatis 205 metres.
VODAFONE WARRIORS v CRONULLA
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
7.30pm, Saturday, August 16
VODAFONE WARRIORS
1
WADE McKINNON
2
MALO SOLOMONA
3
BRENT TATE
4
JEROME ROPATI
5
MANU VATUVEI
6
MICHAEL WITT
7
NATHAN FIEN
8
RUBEN WIKI (vc)
9
IAN HENDERSON
10
STEVE PRICE (c)
11
SIMON MANNERING
12
BEN MATULINO
13
LOGAN SWANN
Interchange:
14
LANCE HOHAIA
15
SAM RAPIRA
16
EPALAHAME LAUAKI
17
WAIRANGI KOOPU
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
7.30pm, Saturday, August 16
VODAFONE WARRIORS
1
WADE McKINNON
2
MALO SOLOMONA
3
BRENT TATE
4
JEROME ROPATI
5
MANU VATUVEI
6
MICHAEL WITT
7
NATHAN FIEN
8
RUBEN WIKI (vc)
9
IAN HENDERSON
10
STEVE PRICE (c)
11
SIMON MANNERING
12
BEN MATULINO
13
LOGAN SWANN
Interchange:
14
LANCE HOHAIA
15
SAM RAPIRA
16
EPALAHAME LAUAKI
17
WAIRANGI KOOPU
www.warriors