KEY POINTS:
A shoulder injury has ended Micheal Luck's run of 70 consecutive National Rugby League appearances.
The 26-year-old loose forward has been left out of the Warriors' lineup to play Cronulla at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
He was forced off the field in the 60th minute of
last Saturday night's 16-12 win over Brisbane Broncos and is expected to be sidelined for two matches.
Since joining the Warriors for the 2006 season, the former North Queensland back rower had not missed a match until now.
He was the NRL's 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 last weekend, he made 32 tackles to lift his total to 801 in 20 games (40 a game).
"It's a real shame for Lucky and disappointing for us because he makes such a huge contribution to the side consistently every week," coach Ivan Cleary said.
"Considering the workload he has and the job he's required to do, it's a tribute to him that he has been able to put such a long run of appearances together."
With Luck out, 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 Warriors named in New Zealand's 49-man train-on squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
"Ben has made a really good start at first-grade level. He's worked hard off the bench and this is a great chance for him," Cleary said.
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 Warriors and Cronulla met in Sydney in June, the Sharks won 24-8.
The Warriors go into Saturday's 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 they have 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.
Warriors team:
Wade McKinnon, Malo Solomona, Brent Tate, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Michael Witt, Nathan Fien, Ruben Wiki (vice-captain), Ian Henderson, Steve Price (captain), Simon Mannering, Ben Matulino, Logan Swann.
Interchange:
Lance Hohaia, Sam Rapira, Epalahame Lauaki, Wairangi Koopu.
- NZPA