NRL: Kieran Foran back for Warriors

Kieran Foran of the Warriors. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

Kieran Foran is back in the Warriors side, after missing last Sunday's defeat at the hands of the Raiders with a shoulder complaint.

Foran has been named at No6 in the side to face the Rabbitohs on Friday, with Mason Lino moving onto an extended bench.

Veteran prop Jacob Lillyman makes his 250th career appearance but he won't have his regular front row partner Ben Matulino, with the Kiwi international serving a one-match suspension after taking an early guilty plea on a shoulder charge offence in last Sunday's 36-16 loss to Canberra.

The 33-year-old Lillyman, who joined the Warriors in 2009 after 62 games for North Queensland, was converted into a front rower in 2011.

Of his 187 appearances for the club so far, 151 have been as a starting prop or as an interchange front rower, more than 130 of them with Matulino in the trenches with him.

On the field for 62 minutes against the Raiders, Lillyman carted the ball up 15 times for 155 metres - the best of any forward in the match - and added 26 tackles. He is now averaging close to 128 metres and 26 tackles across his 20 games this year, superior to his numbers in the previous three seasons.

Lillyman becomes just the 112th 250-game player in the competition's 109-year history.

Paired up with him on Friday night is Sam Lisone, who'll be starting for his fourth consecutivegame on end after being used almost exclusively as an interchange prop during his 60-game career.

Matulino's absence results in a first-grade return for Charlie Gubb, who has come back from a hernia operation.

Last used at NRL level in the 11th-round match against St George Illawarra in Hamilton, Gubb made 128 metres from 15 carries for the club's 26-16 Intrust Super Premiership win over Wentworthville on Sunday. He's set for his 38th career outing on Friday night.

Apart from Gubb and Lino, the others named on the eight-man bench are Issac Luke, Chris Satae, Isaiah Papali'i, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, James Ball and Toaf Sipley.

After losing four games on end, South Sydney has beaten St George Illawarra 26-24 and Canterbury-Bankstown 28-14 to move to 11th on the table on 20 points, two ahead of the 12th-placed Warriors.

The Warriors' record against the Rabbitohs is their second best against all current teams in the competition. They have an 18-12 advantage in 30 encounters and 9-6 in 15 away matches at various venues (ANZ Stadium, Sydney Football Stadium, North Sydney Oval and nib Stadium in Perth).

Souths has won each of the last five games - two in Auckland and three in Perth - but this will the first time they've met at ANZ Stadium since 2011 (when the Warriors won 48-16). It's the fourth season in a row that the clubs have met just once.

Warriors v South Sydney
Anz Stadium, Sydney
8.00pm, Friday, August 18
Warriors
1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (C)
2 David Fusitu'a
3 Blake Ayshford
4 Solomone Kata
5 Ken Maumalo
6 Kieran Foran
7 Mafoa'aeata Hingano
8 Jacob Lillyman
9 Nathaniel Roache
10 Sam Lisone
11 Bunty Afoa
12 Ryan Hoffman
13 Simon Mannering
Interchange:
14 Issac Luke
15 Chris Satae
16 Isaiah Papali'i
17 Charlie Gubb
18 Mason Lino
20 Toafofoa Sipley
21 James Bell
22 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
Coach | Stephen Kearney