Dallin Watene-Zelezniak returns for Warriors to mark milestone NRL game

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will mark a milestone for the Warriors. Photo / Getty

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will reach a special milestone, as Chad Townsend gets closer to an NRL return.

They are the main points from the Warriors team named to face the Broncos on Sunday (6:05pm NZT).

Watene-Zelezniak is one of three changes to the 17, returning after a one-match suspension to replace Edward Kosi.

The 25-year-old will become the second player in successive weeks to reach 150 NRL games, after Peta Hiku hit that landmark against the Bulldogs.

The only other changes coach Nathan Brown has made to last week's squad see Bayley Sironen return to lock forward with Jazz Tevaga moved to the interchange and Jamayne Taunoa-Brown brought into the starting line-up for debutant prop Jackson Frei.

Townsend is again included on the extended bench.

The veteran half was rated a 50-50 chance to return for last week's game, before being omitted 24 hours before kick-off.

It will be a tricky decision for Brown.

There is no doubting Townsend's quality or pedigree, but Sean O'Sullivan has done a solid job in his absence. He's still inexperienced – and prone to the odd lapse – but has helped the Warriors to three successive wins for the first time since the start of the 2018 season.

Townsend will need to prove he is match fit, while there are also still some lingering doubts about his injured shoulder, after being taken out illegally in his first game for the Warriors against the Dragons in July.

The Hamilton-born Watene-Zelezniak makes it to the 150-mark after 106 appearances for Penrith from 2014-2019, followed by 37 for the Bulldogs from 2019-2021.

He's got 51 NRL tries to his name, with 12 during his most productive campaign for the Panthers in 2016.

Watene-Zelezniak broke through early. He made his first-grade debut as an 18-year-old in 2014 and had recorded 26 NRL games before the age of 20.

He's already proved a smart signing for the Warriors, bringing energy, leadership and desire. In his first six outings with the Auckland club he has scored two tries, averaged 167 metres a game and made 22 tackle breaks.

The move has also revived his career, getting away from the Bulldogs who seem to be going backwards at a rate of knots. He's been part of a late-season surge at the Warriors, with promising signs for the 2022 season.

The Warriors go into Sunday's encounter looking for their fourth straight victory, edging them closer to equalling the five-game winning sequence at the start of the 2018 season.

WARRIORS v BRISBANE BRONCOS
6.05pm (NZT) Sunday, August 22, 2021
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
WARRIORS

1 Reece Walsh
2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
3 Peta Hiku
4 Adam Pompey
5 Marcelo Montoya
6 Chanel Harris-Tavita
7 Sean O'Sullivan
8 Addin Fonua-Blake (c)
9 Wayde Egan
10 Jamayne Taunoa-Brown
11 Euan Aitken
12 Josh Curran
13 Bayley Sironen

Interchange:
14 Kodi Nikorima
15 Bunty Afoa
16 Eliesa Katoa
17 Jazz Tevaga
18 Edward Kosi
20 Jackson Frei
21 Jack Murchie
22 Chad Townsend
(Four to be omitted)