League: Warriors lose Solomone Kata, Leivaha Pulu to injury ahead of Dragons clash

Solomone Kata makes a break against the Brisbane Broncos. Photo / Getty Images

The Warriors have lost two more key players to injury ahead of their top of the table clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Centre Solomone Kata and forward Leivaha Pulu were set for an extended stint on the sidelines after picking up injuries in the side's 27-18 loss to Brisbane on Saturday.

Kata was taken from the pitch in the final 10 minutes of the game after sustaining an ankle injury, while Pulu lasted just 23 minutes before exiting with a foot injury.

While the extent of Pulu's injury was still to be determined, the club announced Kata would be sidelined for at least two weeks. As a result, he'll him miss their matches against the unbeaten Dragons in Auckland this weekend, and their clash away to the Storm in round 8.

Through six games of the season, Kata was the Warriors second leading try scorer - crossing the stripe three times - and led the team in linebreaks with four.

Pulu was a significant loss on the defensive side of the ball. The forward was one of seven Warriors to have made over 100 tackles this season, and was efficient in his work with tackle percentage of over 95 per cent.

Kata's injury could see Anthony Gelling make his first start of the season, having appeared off the bench in the Warriors' last three outings, while Pulu's absence could open the door for Ligi Sao return to the match-day 17, or see the return of Isaiah Papali'i, who had been sidelined by injury himself.

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