Warriors v Sea Eagles: Wayde Egan out with hip injury, set to return if NZ side make NRL finals

The Warriors have made one injury-enforced change to their side for Friday’s clash against the Manly Sea Eagles as they look to push for a top-four NRL finish.

Wayde Egan has been ruled out because of a hip injury, with Samuel Healey named to start in the No 9 jersey for his sixth appearance of the season.

Coach Andrew Webster has opted for the cautious approach, with Egan pencilled in to return to the side for week one of the finals, in what would be his 150th NRL match.

It’s the only major change to Webster’s side, while Tanner Stowers-Smith has been named to start at prop after being swapped in later off the interchange in the last two matches.

The Warriors sit sixth ahead of the NRL finals, and if they are to finish inside the top four, they must beat the Sea Eagles and hope the Brisbane Broncos and Cronulla Sharks lose to the Melbourne Storm and Canterbury Bulldogs, respectively.

What helps is that both the Storm and Bulldogs have named their strongest possible sides, with Jahrome Hughes returning from a shoulder injury for Melbourne.

The format (1 versus 4, 2 versus 3, 5 versus 8, 6 versus 7) puts the winners of the first two games straight into the preliminary finals, while the losers get a second life with a home final against the winner of the other two quarter-finals.

But the Sea Eagles have plenty to play for as well, with the match set to be departing captain Daly Cherry-Evans’ last home match for the club.

On top of that, they are also still in contention to claim the eighth spot in the finals, although they will need a miracle to qualify.

They need to beat the Warriors, hope fellow top-eight hopefuls Sydney Roosters lose to South Sydney and have an 82-point for-and-against swing in their favour. They must also hope the Dolphins don’t beat the Canberra Raiders on Sunday.

The Warriors beat the Sea Eagles 36-16 earlier this season, but haven’t won in Manly since 2020.

Warriors team: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3. Adam Pompey, 4. Rocco Berry, 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7. Tanah Boyd, 8. James Fisher-Harris (c), 9. Samuel Healey, 10. Tanner Stowers-Smith, 11. Kurt Capewell, 12. Marata Niukore, 13. Erin Clark.

Interchange (from): 14. Te Maire Martin, 15. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, 16. Demitric Vaimauga, 17. Leka Halasima, 18. Taine Tuaupiki, 20. Kalani Going, 21. Bunty Afoa, 22. Ed Kosi, 23. Luke Hanson

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.