NRL: Luck to join 200 club

Micheal Luck. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand Warriors vice-captain Micheal Luck will become a member of the NRL's 200-game club when he lines up against Manly in Saturday night's sixth-round game at Brookvale Oval in Sydney.

It's the second major milestone for the veteran loose forward in the space of little more than a year.

In round two last year he brought up 100 appearances for the Warriors, having joined the club in 2006 after 76 games for North Queensland from 2001-2005.

Five games into his sixth season in Auckland, Luck - 29 on April 21 - has missed only eight of the 131 games the Vodafone Warriors have played in that time.

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary said Luck's value to the team couldn't be overstated.

"Lucky makes a tremendous contribution every week and it's great to see a player who works so hard for the team reaching the 200-gajme milestone," he said.

"He's a player the guys love playing with and one who just puts in week after week without any fuss."

While Luck's 124th game for the Warriors will take him to a career total of 200 on Saturday night, new signing Shaun Berrigan is also edging towards the same milestone. He'll play his 192nd NRL match this weekend after 186 games for Brisbane.

Following last Saturday night's 24-12 win over the Sydney Roosters, Cleary has been forced to make one change to his starting line-up with fullback Glen Fisiiahi ruled out for six weeks with damage to his left ankle and knee after being jammed in a two-man tackle.

Lance Hohaia, who was on the interchange bench against the Roosters, will start at fullback this week after returning to his established position following Fisiiahi's injury on Saturday night. Hohaia today announced he will leave the club at the end of the season after signing a four-year contract with St Helens.

The starting line-up named today is the same as the one which ran on last weekend but there are two changes on the bench. Ukuma Ta'ai, Jeremy Latimore and Ben Matulino are joined by recalled prop Russell Packer and second rower Sione Lousi.

Packer was named the players' player of the day after his display for the Auckland Vulcans in their 60-10 trouncing of the Newtown Jets in the New South Wales Cup last weekend. He appeared in the first four matches of the NRL season while Lousi, used seven times at first-grade level last season, has been added to the bench after impressive form for the Jets. Lousi replaces back rower Matt Robinson, who was 18th man last week.

The Warriors go into the Manly match with consecutive wins against Cronulla and the Roosters while the Sea Eagles recovered from a 0-13 deficit against Cronulla last Saturday to snatch a 19-13 win, scoring the match-winning try after the full-time siren had sounded.

The Sea Eagles are fifth on the ladder with six points with the Warriors lying 11th on four points. This will be the only time the two sides meet this season.

Warriors side to face Manly:
1 Lance Hohaia
2 Bill Tupou
3 Shaun Berrigan
4 Simon Mannering (C)
5 Krisnan Inu
6 Feleti Mateo
7 James Maloney
8 Sam Rapira
9 Aaron Heremaia
10 Jacob Lillyman
11 Lewis Brown
12 Elijah Taylor
13 Micheal Luck

Interchange:
15 Jeremy Latimore
16 Ben Matulino
17 Ukuma Ta'ai
20 Russell Packer
21 Sione Lousi