NRL: Broncos will keep Warriors on toes

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary said that the Broncos 'look really fit, they're competing really hard.' Photo / Brett Phibbs

Warriors v Broncos
Mt Smart Stadium, 7.30 tonight

The Broncos gave the Warriors a lesson in 80-minute football in the first game the Auckland club played in 1995 and it was 2001 before the New Zealand NRL side got a win over Brisbane - but tonight they start as favourites.

The Broncos came from 22-10 down to win 25-22 in that first encounter and they retain the record all-up, 14-9, but the Broncos have not beaten the Warriors since 2006 and they haven't won in their last four encounters at Mt Smart.

It was Stacey Jones who kicked a field goal for a 13-12 win in 2001, the team then going on to make the playoffs for the first time, and it will be Jones the packed-out stadium will be clamouring to see in action tonight.

Ticket sales passed 21,000 yesterday and with good weather predicted the remaining 4000 should go too.

"I hope people expect things because we expect things of ourselves too," said coach Ivan Cleary this week.

He'd had no trouble keeping the squad focused after two good wins to start the season, the Warriors and Broncos playing for first place on the competition ladder.

"Playing the Broncos, that's the easiest way [to keep feet on the ground]," Cleary said. "They look really fit, they're competing really hard."

The Brisbane side had taken their first win by one point and the second by two points, a legacy of the toughness and never-say-die attitude instilled by 22-year coach Wayne Bennett and Cleary said he had not noticed huge changes since Bennett's assistant Ivan Henjak took over. "They compete right to the end and in that respect they look really similar."

Wing Manu Vatuvei is out but awaits the results of a scan to determine for how long.

The Broncos have named Josh McGuire, 19, nicknamed "The Big Show", on their bench for his NRL debut. He has scored four tries in his last two games in the Queensland Cup and steps up to the interchange for David Taylor, who is called into the starting 13 to replace regular Nick Kenny.

They have rookies in their backline and both Antonio Winterstein and Jharal Yow Yeh are sure to be targeted by the more experienced Warriors. Both have speed, though, and will need watching so they do not get clear field.

And off their bench is another NRL rookie Andrew McCullough as backup dummy-half, offering another chance for the Warriors to press advantage.

They still have major backline strike power at fullback from Karmichael Hunt and in the halves combination of Peter Wallace and Darren Lockyer and with Israel Folau at centre. The 19-year-old Storm convert scored a magnificent try plucking a kick from the air last weekend against his old team and both his aerial work and dummy-half running will need to be curtailed.

This is the Broncos' first away game under Henjak, who had three years as Bennett's assistant after guiding the Brisbane reserve grade for seven years.

WARRIORS v BRONCOS:

Warriors

Wade McKinnon
Denan Kemp
Brent Tate
Jerome Ropati
Aidan Kirk
Joel Moon
Nathan Fien
Sam Rapira
Ian Henderson
Steve Price (c)
Simon Mannering
Jacob Lillyman
Micheal Luck

Interchange: Stacey Jones, Russell Packer, Jesse Royal, Ukuma Ta'ai.

Broncos

Karmichael Hunt
A. Winterstein
Steve Michaels
Israel Folau
Jharal Yow Yeh
Darren Lockyer (c)
Peter Wallace
David Taylor
Aaron Gorrell
Joel Clinton
Sam Thaiday
Ben Te'o
Corey Parker

Interchange: Andrew McCullough, Alex Glenn, Ashton Sims, Josh McGuire.