League: Johns the bogey for Warriors

Tomorrow's game against the Warriors may be Andrew Johns' last in Auckland. Picture / Brett Phibbs

As usual, all talk ahead of Newcastle's visit to play the Warriors tomorrow is of Andrew Johns.

It may be Johns' last game in Auckland given his withdrawal from test football - his contract with the Knights has a year to run, but there is no guarantee the draw for 2007 will provide a game here.

This week, before State of Origin II, Johns reiterated that he was in retirement from all representative league. Then he visited the New South Wales dressing room after commentating on the game for Channel Nine and was apparently moved by the team's gloom to reconsider.

By yesterday he had restated his intention to stay retired, as the Australian Rugby League responded to calls for his selection by saying he had been granted an exemption to make himself unavailable and would need further ARL approval to make a comeback.

The Knights link man Danny Buderus is not backing up after that State of Origin thrashing.

The only chinks in the Knights' armour might be Johns' mental distractions and playing without Buderus. Bench player Riley Brown steps up to replace him. David Seage withdrew yesterday allowing Nathan Hinton to make his NRL debut.

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary spoke not about containing Johns but rather of denying him ball as much as possible. The completion rate against the Roosters last weekend was the best this year and that had to be repeated.

Cleary still has concerns about the inability to score when in the opposition red zone. But that came down to fundamentals and he felt the team would overcome the problem. Against Brisbane, then the Roosters, they had stuck to the game plan. He did not want to contain the flamboyant play of Sione Faumuina because it provided scoring opportunity - it was a matter of making the right decisions.

"We can't give Johns too much ball - if he plays well you can bet his mates around him will play well too," Cleary said.

The Warriors hope to win here, win next weekend against Souths in Sydney and get on a roll. They can be assured of good service as usual from Ruben Wiki and Steve Price, playing his 250th game.

So it comes down to the kicking game, the chase and the defence: whether the Warriors can play at the right end of the field. The Warriors beat a Johns-less Knights 26-22 at Newcastle earlier this season but the Knights have won the last five games in Auckland.

* Newcastle wing Anthony Quinn has signed with the Storm for three years, putting pressure on off-contract Kiwi Jake Webster. Kiwis second-rower David Kidwell has agreed terms with Souths for three seasons and the Rabbitohs are chasing Bulldogs prop Roy Asotasi.

The Storm have re-signed Ryan Hoffman and Matt Geyer for three years.

Raiders prop Michael Hodgson has signed with the new Gold Coast Titans for two seasons. Tigers prop John Skandalis is joining the NRL exodus after signing for Huddersfield.

Parramatta fullback Wade McKinnon remains a target of the Warriors, who face competition from Souths and the Bulldogs, where Luke Patten is off-contract.

NZ Warriors v Newcastle Knights
Mt Smart Stadium, 2pm tomorrow

NZ Warriors

Brent Webb, Patrick Ah Van, Tony Martin, Simon Mannering, Manu Vatuvei, Jerome Ropati, Grant Rovelli, Ruben Wiki, Nathan Fien, Steve Price (c), Awen Guttenbeil, Louis Anderson, Sione Faumuina
Interchange: Lance Hohaia, Evarn Tuimavave, Wairangi Koopu, Micheal Luck. On stand-by Sam Rapira, Clinton Toopi

Newcastle Knights

Nathan Hinton, Brian Carney, Matthew Gidley, George Carmont, Anthony Quinn, Kurt Gidley, Andrew Johns (c),Craig Smith, Riley Brown, Josh Perry, Steve Simpson, Clint Newton, Reegan Tanner.
Interchange: Luke Davico, Adam Woolnough, Todd Lowrie, Kirk Reynoldson.