League: Kiwis contender signs up with Warriors

Jerome Ropati, the man who may have figured in the Kiwis' thinking at stand-off before injury struck, has extended his contract with the Warriors until 2007. Ropati, who made his NRL debut against the Roosters in 2003, says it was an easy decision to make Ericsson Stadium his home for an extended period.

"I love it here. It's a family club and playing for the New Zealand Warriors at home is just a dream for me," he said of a deal that doubles as an early birthday gift before he turns 20 on November 23. "This gives me an incentive to train and play hard to give something back to the club."

A product of the Marist club in Auckland, Ropati was sidelined for 10 matches after breaking his jaw in just his second appearance of the 2004 campaign against Manly. On his return he was used at wing, centre, fullback and standoff but much of his senior football has been played in the No 6 jersey.

"That's my preferred position but the big goal next season is just to get into the 17 or even the 13 and then stay there. That's what the off-season training is all about," he says.

While Ropati recovered from his broken jaw, he was bothered by a wrist injury later in the 2004 season, a complaint that required post-season surgery and removed him from contention for the Kiwis' Tri Nations campaign. A large cast on his left arm has since been replaced with a smaller one enabling him to handle most of the workload the players have been doing in their off-season training schedule.

With major signings in Steve Price (Bulldogs), Ruben Wiki (Canberra), Nathan Fien (North Queensland) and Todd Byrne (Roosters), the Vodafone Warriors have boosted their playing roster but Ropati is also impressed with work being done by the coaching team.

"With the new coaching staff of Tony Kemp, Ivan Cleary and Kevin Campion there are promising signs for next season and beyond. In our training so far they've shown they really believe in us," he says.

Ropati looks towards the 2005 season with a career total of 12 NRL matches including four tries, but he's hoping for a far more settled year than the one he's just endured.

The 2005 draw released this week has given the Vodafone Warriors a home start to their programme - facing Manly at the revamped Ericsson Stadium - on the weekend of March 11-13. The new Eastern Stand will be in full use for the match, which coincides with the club's 10th anniversary since entering the competition (then the Winfield Cup) on March 10, 1995.