Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate / Sport

Well rested duo fired up

By Robert Lowe
Northern Advocate·
25 Feb, 2011 07:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Lance Hohaia is confident having just one hit-out for the New Zealand Warriors will get him up to speed for the new National Rugby League season.
Hohaia and club skipper Simon Mannering are the only front-line players yet to take the field in the pre-season programme.
Having sat out the draw against
Newcastle and the wins over Parramatta and the Burleigh Bears, the pair will be in action for the club's final trial, against Manly at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland tomorrow.
Coach Ivan Cleary has held back fullback Hohaia and second-rower Mannering until now because of their heavy schedule last year.
Both were key members of the Kiwis' victorious end-of-season Four Nations campaign.
Hohaia, 27, said he had a good rest after the final against the Kangaroos in November, joining up with the Warriors early last month.
He was comfortable that the outing against the Sea Eagles would provide his only game time before the Warriors' season-opener against Parramatta at Eden Park a fortnight later.
Experience had taught him what he had to do to make sure his preparation wasn't lacking.
"Both myself and the coach have had a chat and we're pretty confident that one game should be all right," he said.
Apart from Hohaia and Mannering, three other Warriors were part of the Kiwis' Four Nations squad.
Second-rower Ben Matulino also played in the final, but winger Manu Vatuvei suffered a tournament-ending arm injury minutes into the opening match, while second-rower Lewis Brown wasn't used.
Two years earlier, when the Kiwis won the World Cup, that triumph didn't translate into success for the Warriors, who went on to have a dismal 2009, finishing third bottom after being one of the pre-season title favourites.
"We probably didn't capitalise as much after the World Cup - most of us kind of went backwards a little bit," Hohaia said.
He believed the players had learned from that experience, such as ensuring they were refreshed for the new NRL campaign.
"We probably didn't rest ourselves or look after our bodies, or at least tell the coaches how tired we were, because all of us wanted to get back to training and playing as quickly as possible," he said.
Hohaia is the longest-serving Warrior in the present squad.
The 22-test Kiwi's first-grade debut came against North Queensland in April 2002, five days after his 19th birthday, and he has gone on to make a total of 163 appearances for the Warriors.
He has operated in various positions in the backline as well as at hooker, but in recent times has been used mainly at fullback at both test and club level.
He said he didn't realise he was entering his 10th season of NRL until it was mentioned to him earlier this year.
"I've loved my whole time at this club and I'm looking forward to this year as much as any year," he said.
"I'm excited to keep improving. I'm still confident I can get better as a player." NZPA

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Northern Advocate

Former Black Fern battles stage 4 cancer

Northern Advocate

Northland shearer Toa Henderson wins big at Royal Welsh Show

Sport

Māori All Blacks beaten by Scotland


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Former Black Fern battles stage 4 cancer
Northern Advocate

Former Black Fern battles stage 4 cancer

Cheryl Waaka remembers the day her life was changed forever.

24 Jul 09:59 PM
Northland shearer Toa Henderson wins big at Royal Welsh Show
Northern Advocate

Northland shearer Toa Henderson wins big at Royal Welsh Show

23 Jul 11:39 PM
Māori All Blacks beaten by Scotland
Sport

Māori All Blacks beaten by Scotland

05 Jul 05:39 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP