League: Warriors unchanged for Newcastle trip

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary has named an unchanged side for Sunday's National Rugby League fifth round match against the Knights at Newcastle.

That sees young props Russell Packer, 19 and Sam Rapira, 22, in the starting line-up again after impressive efforts when the Warriors lost to South Sydney 16-22 on Sunday.

Packer, voted the players' player of the day, had 19 runs on Sunday, the best for the match along with fullback Wade McKinnon and centre Jerome Ropati. He gained 156 metres and also made 35 tackles with no misses.

Rapira gained 114 metres from 14 carries and made 20 tackles without a miss.

Strike weapon Manu Vatuvei wasn't named but could be a late inclusion.

The giant winger has been sidelined with a knee cartilage injury since the second round victory over Manly, when he scored his 46th career try in his 77th NRL appearance.

"We'll see how Manu goes during the week but at this stage he's a chance of being included," said Cleary.

"The one good thing to come out of the match against the Rabbitohs was that we didn't add to our injury list.

"In fact, we finished a match with a full bench for the first time this year and now we'll hopefully see some of the injured players returning."

Captain Steve Price (throat), utility Lance Hohaia (knee) and second rower Ben Matulino (ankle) would not be ready to play this weekend, Cleary said.

It was hoped they'd be in contention for the round six home game against the Sydney Roosters on April 19.

While disappointed with the result, Cleary said there was no issue with the effort against South Sydney.

"It's a game we had every chance to win but we just couldn't put it away," he said.

"There's no let-up, though. Now we face the Knights at one of the most challenging venues there is in the NRL and they're also in excellent form after an impressive performance against Manly last Sunday."

New Zealand Warriors: Wade McKinnon, Denan Kemp, Patrick Ah Van, Jerome Ropati, Aidan Kirk, Joel Moon, Stacey Jones, Sam Rapira, Ian Henderson, Russell Packer, Simon Mannering, Jacob Lillyman, Micheal Luck (captain). Interchange: Nathan Fien, Jesse Royal, Daniel O'Regan, Ukuma Ta'ai.

- NZPA