NRL: McKinnon returns for clash with St George

Wade McKinnon. Photo / Getty Images.

Star fullback Wade McKinnon returns to the Warriors for the trip to Wollongong to face the in-form St George Dragons on Sunday but the Auckland team and the Kiwis will miss barging and mistake-free prop Sam Rapira, who has been ruled out for three weeks with sternum damage.

The Warriors are otherwise unchanged after their epic overtime draw with the Storm last Saturday and the Dragons yesterday named much the same side that beat the Roosters 29-0, returning big Wendell Sailor to the right wing after his recovery from a hamstring strain.

Under the new two-ref system, Dragons coach Wayne Bennett has generally elected to go with two backs and two forwards on his bench this season and sometimes one of the backs has not got a run.

For the Warriors game he has three forwards and two backs on a five-man bench but the pattern of use of those players suggests he will field three forwards.

The big revelation at the Dragons this season has been the form of half Jamie Soward, who never played consistently enough to earn a guaranteed spot either at the Roosters in his early years or under previous Dragons coach Nathan Brown, notching just 55 NRL games over four years.

His long kicking game has made the difference for the Dragons this season and last weekend he scored two tries, hit six-from-six goals and slotted a field goal.

There must be concern at the Warriors regarding the slip from form of their goal-kicker Denan Kemp, who started the season with distance and accuracy but seems to have lost the latter.

In both the extra-time games of the past fortnight he has missed conversions that ought to have been nailed in ordinary time.

McKinnon missed those games against the Roosters and Storm with a hamstring strain but has been running for a week and will start on Sunday afternoon.

Rapira's injury ends his run of 66 consecutive appearances that stretches back to his debut season in 2006.

Warriors captain Steve Price was listed in an initial 25-man squad for Queensland in this year's State of Origin series. Given his form and history at state level and that of propping partner Petero Civoniceva, they will be the starters.

That means Price will sit out Warriors matches against the Tigers and Bulldogs before Origins One and Three, the club having a bye ahead of Origin Two.

The judiciary has been busy this week with Eels secondrower Nathan Hindmarsh ruled out of the weekend's game against the Cowboys after leading into a tackle with his feet as he attempted to stop a try-scoring movement.

Cowboys backrower Luke O'Donnell is also sidelined from that game for fighting. Canberra's big forward Tom Learoyd-Lahrs will not meet the Panthers as he sits out a game for striking.

Dragons
Darius Boyd, Brett Morris, Beau Scott, Matt Cooper, Wendell Sailor, Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby (capt), Justin Poore, Dean Young, Michael Weyman, Matt Prior, Ben Creagh, Jeremy Smith.

Interchange: Dan Hunt, Neville Costigan, Jason Nightingale, Jarrod Saffy, Mathew Head (one to be omitted)

Warriors
Wade McKinnon, Denan Kemp, Simon Mannering, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Joel Moon, Stacey Jones, Jesse Royal, Ian Henderson, Steve Price (capt), Ben Matulino, Jacob Lillyman, Micheal Luck.

Interchange: Nathan Fien, Russell Packer, Lewis Brown, Patrick Ah Van, Lance Hohaia, Aidan Kirk (two to be omitted)