NRL: Locke, Hurrell returning to bolster ranks for Warriors

Kevin Locke. Photo / Dean Purcell

Kevin Locke will return at fullback and blockbusting young centre Konrad Hurrell is also in the mix, but the Warriors squad that slumped to deflating defeats by the Roosters and Raiders on its two-match tour of Australia remains largely intact for Sunday's match against the Rabbitohs at Mt Smart Stadium.

Locke returns from a leg cork to replace Glen Fisiiahi, while Hurrell missed the Roosters match with a groin strain but made a successful return for the Auckland Vulcans in a 30-36 defeat by Mounties at the weekend.

While coach Brian McClennan might have been tempted to wield a more hefty axe after two such abject displays, the reality is he doesn't have the replacement personnel at his disposal.

Experienced hands Micheal Luck and Jacob Lillyman remain at least three weeks away (four to five is more likely for Luck), while hard-nosed forward Steve Rapira is likely to make a measured return from an ankle injury via the Vulcans.

Having been with the squad on the fruitless trip to Sydney and Canberra, uncapped junior John Palavi appears the closest to a callup to the underperforming forward pack. Palavi is a highly promising talent, however the wisdom of blooding another rookie in a side painfully light on experience appears questionable.

The alternative, then, appears to be to stick with the players who failed in Australia and bank on a dramatic turnaround.

"The last two games have been appalling," McClennan admitted. "We understand that and I understand that, we have got to deliver this week. We've got to finish more sets and play with more aggression and speed."

The two-game slump has left the Warriors in 13th place with a 2-4 record. While the club also had just four competition points at the same point last season and went on to reach the grand final, that team hadn't displayed the glaring defensive frailties so evident this season.

With a quarter of the season gone, the Warriors have conceded the second-most points in the competition, committed the most errors and missed the most tackles. They have also been dominated in the collision, particularly in the last two matches - something that simply didn't happen last season.

"I can understand everyone's frustration, we are all frustrated as hell ourselves," McClennan said. "Everyone is going to have to line up and put in a decent performance this week."

If they don't, they can expect another rough outing against a Rabbitohs side who have won their last two outings. But the wins came at the cost of injuries to forwards Sam Burgess (knee) and Roy Asotasi (pectoral tear) that will sideline them for several months.

Mt Smart Stadium, 2pm Sunday

WARRIORS
Kevin Locke
Bill Tupou
Ben Henry
Jerome Ropati
Manu Vatuvei
James Maloney
Shaun Johnson
Sione Lousi
Nathan Friend
Ben Matulino
Feleti Mateo
Simon Mannering (c)
Elijah Taylor

RABBITOHS
Greg Inglis
Andrew Everingham
Matt King
Shaune Corrigan
Dylan Farrell
John Sutton
Adam Reynolds
Scott Geddes
Issac Luke
Dave Tyrrell
Eddy Pettybourne
Dave Taylor
Michael Croker

Warriors (from): Russell Packer, Ukuma Ta'ai, Konrad Hurrell, Sam Rapira, Lewis Brown, John Palavi.

Rabbitohs: (from): Ben Lowe, Chris McQueen, Jason Clark, Neccrom Areaiiti, Justin Hunt.