League: Kemp eyes 19 for first NRL game

The 19 players who turn out for the Warriors against a President's XIII at North Harbour Stadium on Sunday are the frontrunners to join new skipper Steve Price for starting positions against Manly in their NRL opener.

Five Warriors up-and-comers will run in the opposition, which is bolstered by a spread of NRL experience that includes former Warriors Ben Lythe and Odell Manuel and French test player Artie Shead.

There are promising young halves in Bernard Perenara and Dean Shepherd, the old head of Gus Malieatoa-Brown and new talent brought in by coach and Warriors player welfare and development officer John Ackland.

Coach Tony Kemp said the 19 used would be the 19 in line for game one, but he had yet to confirm some positions. There was depth in the forward pack and competition for spots but the make-up of the backs was yet to be settled. Brent Webb looks like fullback with Jerome Ropati competing but perhaps to start as a utility. Stacey Jones is first-choice goal-kicker after working with assistant coach Ivan Cleary and spending plenty of time in practice.

Jones and hooker Nathan Fien had looked sharp in an in-house opposed session, Kemp said, and Sunday's game would give them the opportunity to develop the combination. He expected the team to win.

The Warriors dismissed any suggestion their approach would change following the court ruling that found the Melbourne Storm club and players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai liable for ending Jarrod McCracken's career with a spear tackle.

It was an issue from 2000 and tackle technique had been refined seasons ago.

Players are all covered for on-field liability via insurance carried by every club, the insurance including liability for claims made directly against players as with Kearney and Bai, who will not have to pay personally when the court determines an amount in August.

Former All Black Brad Thorn is to play for Brisbane in a pre-season trial against Canberra at Toowoomba on Saturday and Wellington Junior Kiwi John Te Reo starts in the halves for the Broncos.