League: Hoffman hails captain Mannering

New Zealand Warriors new signing Ryan Hoffman, with ball, will play in Rotorua tomorrow. Photo / NZME.

After more than a decade playing for the Melbourne Storm, Ryan Hoffman has become no stranger to playing alongside and against the world's best rugby league players.

The New Zealand Warriors new signing will feature in a strong Warriors roster this year, and said there was one player in particular he was excited about playing alongside in 2015.

"I've always had a wrap on Simon Mannering. Playing against him all those years you always respected him for how he leads his club and his country."

He said Mannering was a great leader and an inspiring player, having captained the Warriors from a young age.

For most league followers, marquee signing Hoffman will need little introduction this year. The big back rower has played in four grand finals, represented Australia and was a big part of NSW's State of Origin triumph last year.

He will line-up in the back row for the Warriors tomorrow in Rotorua during their pre-season match against the Penrith Panthers.

The Warriors have named a strong side for the match and will boast the majority of their first-choice team.

"It is quite an important trial match for us and we have to treat it as a round one game."

Hoffman said the Warriors had gone through a good pre-season campaign, which was not dissimilar to the intensity he was used to in Melbourne.

"I suppose they are all hard, I mean pre-season is pre-season, they are supposed to be hard," he said. "I am finding the intensity quite similar to Melbourne but what we are doing is quite different, and after going through 12 pre-seasons at Melbourne it has been good to do something a little different."

Hoffman said he was still hungry to win more NRL premierships and more State of Origin series with NSW.

"When you win a premiership you realise how much fun it is and you just want to keep on doing it, and it is the same with Origin."

Apart from one year playing in England - for the Wigan Warriors in 2011 - Hoffman had spent his entire career at the Melbourne Storm.

He said he was enjoying joining up with ex-Wigan teammates Thomas Leuluai and Sam Tomkins this year at the Auckland-based club.

Hoffman said he and his family were settling in well to life in Auckland, and they had bought a house in Saint Heliers about five minutes from the beach.

When asked if he had visited Rotorua before, Hoffman said he had.

"I lived in Wellington for two years as a kid, and I spent a bit of time up [in Rotorua] for rugby competitions." He said he had been lucky enough to see most of the North Island while he lived in the capital, during his younger years.

Match Details

Warriors v Panthers
Rotorua International Stadium, 3pm tomorrow.