NRL: Vatuvei could return for clash

Manu Vatuvei. Photo / Richard Robinson

The Warriors might welcome back one key player this afternoon against the Titans but could be without another for up to six weeks.

Manu Vatuvei is ready to return, having recovered from his knee injury sustained in the season opener against the Eels. Now coach Ivan Cleary just needs to pick him. If that happens Krisnan Inu could move to the right wing with Kevin Locke missing out or there could be a straight swap.

But prop Sam Rapira is likely to be out for four to six weeks after dislocating his left thumb taking the ball up in the first play of Friday night's Anzac test.

Warriors doctor John Mayhew said Vatuvei is fully fit, although much of the talk shrouding the decision had been about a return against Newcastle next week.

"Fortunately Manu's ligament is in pretty good shape," he said. "They could play him [against the Titans] but he might still do more rehab next week. One benefit from his injury is that players can still get straight on the bike afterwards to maintain a reasonable standard of fitness. He's also been doing plenty of running and his playing weight's the same."

Rapira's absence means Jeremy Latimore should make his third appearance of the season.

Mayhew said Rapira has not broken anything, which is good news, but he would still be out of action for some time.

"The x-rays show no fracture but the thumb is unstable," Mayhew said. "It is likely to be that way for the next couple of weeks. It's tricky because, while the x-ray looks alright, the thumb can keep popping out. He won't require surgery at this stage."

Rapira had a good range of movement and power in the thumb after Friday's test but it was sore. He wanted to return to the field but was advised against that because he could not grip anything.

The other Warriors in the Kiwis - captain Simon Mannering, Lance Hohaia, Ben Matulino and test debutant Lewis Brown - are expected to play the Titans after avoiding serious damage.

The Warriors will at least meet a Titans side with injury problems of their own.

Titans hooker and next year's Warriors recruit Nathan Friend underwent shoulder surgery on Thursday and is out for at least six weeks and his absence might help the Warriors break a drought of six-straight losses against the Gold Coast. The Warriors regularly have problems against him and it places pressure on his replacement Riley Brown to prove his worth with an eye on a permanent place in the Titans starting line-up next year.

Friend's influence has been evident this year, too. The Gold Coast franchise started poorly in his absence, with three straight losses, but he helped turn them around with his dynamic tackling - he has been the top or second top tackler in each of his four games - while playing 80 minutes a time, thus freeing up the interchange bench.

The Titans have won two of the four games since his return to be 11th on the table with six points - compared to the Warriors' eight points in ninth. Aaron Heremaia, the player Friend is likely to replace in the Warriors starting 13 next season, says the Warriors are buoyed by his absence.

"I've been here three years and we've never beaten them. They've been a bogey team the whole time. We probably focused on Nathan a bit much and got stung because it freed up other players."

Heremaia recognised early he would be the fall guy when Friend joined the Warriors, especially with the rise of 21-year-old Alehana Mara as a suitable back-up. He's accepted it will be time to move on at the end of the season and is preparing to take his family - which will include twin boys in addition to one older son by September - to Australia or more likely England.

"Friend's an 80-minute player and Alehana is an 80-minute player. They will both be great for the future of the Warriors. The club's got an option on me for next year, but I'm sure they won't stand in my way if I find somewhere to go.

"Hopefully we can wrap things up in a week or so to let me concentrate on the rest of the year. My wife and I have lived in England a bit in the past [Heremaia played for Leigh, Widnes and Halifax] so it doesn't really bother us where we end up."

The Warriors have played the Titans only eight times in NRL history but are yet to beat them away. That includes the qualifying final loss last year which saw the Warriors dispatched from the competition, despite finishing fifth in the minor premiership.

But they haven't been far off. No more than 12 points separated the two sides in the three encounters last year.