NRL: Warriors need to shut down Thurston

Halves Johnathan Thurston and Stacey Jones will clash on Sunday. Photos / Getty Images

The Cowboys will bring a full-strength, fit and in-form squad to Auckland for the NRL game against the Warriors at Mt Smart on Sunday, one the locals need to win to stay in touch with the top-eight.

And they need to re-establish a home record that makes the Australian teams uncomfortable coming here.

Only the ageing wing/centre Shannon Hegarty is unavailable for the Cowboys and he wouldn't have made a team unchanged after winning 24-20 over competition leaders the Dragons.

That victory carries no great weight given that the Dragons had six players on duty in the Anzac test or City/Country games. Nor do their other two recent wins over the out-of-form Sharks and Sea Eagles, which were followed by a loss to struggling Parramatta.

The Warriors need to do what the Kiwis couldn't and shut down Johnathan Thurston.

The halfback scored twice against the Kiwis and three times for North Queensland last weekend but has to be fatigued after that effort and should be a major target for a Warriors side reinforced by the return of hard-working prop Sam Rapira and wing Denan Kemp.

Rapira starts after missing two weeks with bad bruising to the chest - he had played 66 consecutive games since debut in 2006 - and Jesse Royal goes back to the bench. Kemp, who was left out of the narrow loss to the Dragons in Wollongong, pushes Patrick Ah Van to 18th man. Joel Moon stays at right centre and Nathan Fien and Stacey Jones are the halves.

Jerome Ropati makes his 100th appearance for the club.

"It's a sign of the stability we have in the club that more and more players are reaching these milestones, he's one of the game's nicest guys and it's great for him to be able to play his 100th at home in front of his family and friends," said coach Ivan Cleary.

* Warriors v Cowboys
Mt Smart Stadium, 2pm Sunday

Warriors:
Wade McKinnon
Denan Kemp
Joel Moon
Jerome Ropati
Manu Vatuvei
Nathan Fien
Stacey Jones
Sam Rapira
Ian Henderson
Steve Price (c)
Simon Mannering
Jacob Lillyman
Michael Luck

Interchange: Lance Hohaia, Russell Packer, Jesse Royal, Ben Matulino, 18th man Patrick Ah Van.

Cowboys:
Matt Bowen
Ben Farrar
Ashley Graham
Willie Tonga
John Williams
Travis Burns
Johnathan Thurston (c)
Shane Tronc
Aaron Payne
Matt Scott
Carl Webb
Scott Bolton
Luke O'Donnell

Interchange: Grant Rovelli, Steve Southern, Antonio Kaufusi, Steve Rapira.