Rugby league: Warriors recruit Kane Evans making strides towards NRL return as club eye Canberra Raiders clash

New Warriors recruit Kane Evans continues to work his way back from a knee injury. Photo / Getty Images

Slowly but surely, Kane Evans is returning to form.

One of several big recruits for the Warriors at the end of last year's NRL season, Evans is yet to take the field for his new club in 2021 following setbacks during the preseason.

As part of last year's Parramatta Eels team, who were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, Evans had a slightly later return to preseason training. The 29-year-old prop had limited time getting in some work before Christmas, then spent much of the early part of 2021 dealing with a knee injury.

Expected to be a consistent feature of the Warriors interchange this year, he is yet to make an appearance at the top level.

However, an impressive outing in the Queensland Cup for Redcliffe last weekend showed that could soon change.

"He's missed a lot of training, so he's very short of a gallop, truth be told," Warriors coach Nathan Brown said of Evans.

"The positive was his knee is better now and he's got a lot more training in in the past two or three weeks. In his first Q Cup game he was a bit off the speed, but the other day he was really good in the Q Cup."

Evans was named on the extended bench in the Warriors' initial 22-man squad for their clash against the Canberra Raiders in Canberra on Saturday night, but was cut from the squad yesterday ahead of at least one more week in reserve grade.

"Another game would probably be good for him in the Q Cup, but he's not far off being ready now," Brown said.

"His form last week was a big improvement, he's trained on really well, and I expect him to be a standout for Redcliffe this weekend and continue to put his hand up."

Evans' impending return to full strength will only add to the selection headache for Brown, with the Warriors getting plenty of production out of their forwards so far this season.

As expected when the club signed Addin Fonua-Blake and Ben Murdoch-Masila, the Warriors have been strong in the middle of the park at both ends of the field. The club have been playing their attack largely through their big bodies and have been successful in doing so. Of their six tries scored this season, three have come through forwards, with the back five accounting for just two.

On Saturday, the forwards will again be front and centre as they take on the imposing Raiders pack led by Australian representative prop Josh Papalii and imposing Kiwi lock Joseph Tapine. The Raiders have won three of their past four matches against the Warriors, and have again started the season looking like a sure participant in playoff football.

For the Warriors, looking to make just their second appearance in the playoffs since their runner-up finish in 2011, teams like the Raiders, who are unbeaten through the opening two rounds of the campaign, will be important measuring sticks throughout the season.

"They've been a pretty rare team in the past [few years] having played in a grand final and two grand final qualifiers. You don't do that by fluke, do you?" Brown said of the Raiders.

"That footy club is getting a lot of things right from recruitment to coaching.

"They're two from two and as we've seen in the past their back halves of the year have certainly grown a lot, so I think they'll be pretty happy with how they're travelling."

Warriors v Raiders

Saturday, 5pm, GIO Stadium

Warriors: 1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2. David Fusitu'a, 3. Adam Pompey, 4. Peta Hiku, 5. Ken Maumalo, 6. Kodi Nikorima, 7. Sean O'Sullivan, 8. Addin Fonua-Blake, 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Bunty Afoa, 11. Eliesa Katoa, 12. Bayley Sironen, 13. Tohu Harris

Interchange (from): Jazz Tevaga, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Leeson Ah Mau, Jack Murchie, Tom Ale, Marcelo Montoya, Paul Turner, Kane Evans.

Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joseph Tapine

Interchange (from): Siliva Havili, Ryan Sutton, Iosia Soliola, Ryan James, Sam Williams, Tom Starling, Caleb Aekins, Sebastian Kris.