NRL: Warriors set to bring Hohaia in for Roosters

Lance Hohaia's return to the Warriors' bench means he will be available to fill several different roles. Photo / Getty Images

Lance Hohaia's spell in the league wilderness is over after only two weeks.

The veteran utility is expected to be recalled to the Warriors bench for tonight's showdown with the Roosters as a replacement for Kevin Locke.

Locke, who is the subject of a police investigation over an alleged sexual assault, will play for the Vulcans in the curtain-raiser.

Locke was originally named in the 17, but his dropping is not believed to be related to the police matter.

Hohaia returns after being dropped from the side to play the Sharks and then sitting out last week with a mild knee strain.

He was to have played for the Vulcans, but seems likely to resume his former role as a bench utility.

He will probably be used as a replacement for hooker Aaron Heremaia, but can also cover fullback and the halves.

In another option, he could spell five-eighth Feleti Mateo, who tired visibly in the closing stages of last weekend's win over the Sharks in Rotorua.

"I blew out a bit at the end of the game there but I was really happy to see the whistle," Mateo said of his rare 80-minute performance.

"I hadn't done it in a while. I felt pretty good out there and I am ready to do it again."

Mateo produced six offloads and made five tackle breaks in his first hit-out in the crucial playmaking position, but also coughed up three errors.

"I was pretty happy with how I went," he said.

"There were a few passes that went astray that I need to fix up, pick my times when to pass. There were a few errors there that cost us, that led to tries, but if I can cut that down and still have a few offloads in me that will be nice."

While Mateo helped spark an improved attacking effort against the Sharks, it was the Warriors' second-half defence that paved the way for the first victory of the season.

A step up in intensity put the squeeze on the Sharks, who responded with a series of costly errors.

To have any chance tonight against a Roosters side bristling with attacking threats, the Warriors will need to replicate that effort.

"I take a bit of ownership in that respect and if we defend poorly I feel a bit responsible for that," warhorse lock Micheal Luck said.

"The longer the [Cronulla] game went the prouder of our defence I got. You could feel the enthusiasm in the line that maybe hadn't been there for a while.

"Now it is up to us to start the game like that this weekend ..."

With trips to Manly and Melbourne to come in successive weeks, the Warriors desperately need to bank another two points tonight.

But Luck said the tough draw had not come into the team's thinking.

"That is when we tend to get in trouble, when we look at who is next week and the week after," he said.

"Traditionally our group hasn't gone so well when we try to plan ahead. We work best when we just look at it one game at a time.

"And even processes, you look at first five attacking sets and first five defensive sets and that sets us a platform. That is how this group works best and I can't see us changing."