League: Sadness tinges Warriors clash

Awen Guttenbeil

England-bound New Zealand Warrior stalwarts Awen Guttenbeil and Brent Webb will make their farewell appearances on home soil on Sunday.

A week after the Warriors finally kissed their playoff hopes goodbye, the penultimate round robin game with the Sydney Roosters will be tinged with sadness for the faithful at Mt Smart Stadium as they farewell two favourite sons.

Guttenbeil, who has signed for Super League club Castleford, is again set to defy a nagging calf injury to make his 169th appearance since his debut for the club in 1996.

Queensland-born Kiwis fullback Webb, who is bound for Leeds, will notch his 102nd match for the club he joined in 2002.

The pair play their last games for the Warriors against the Broncos in Brisbane on Saturday week.

Sunday will also be poignant for Kiwis veteran and Warriors vice-captain Ruben Wiki, who overtakes Stephen Kearney's New Zealand record of 264 first grade games in the NRL.

Head coach Ivan Cleary named an unchanged line-up from the side who beat the Melbourne Storm 24-20 at Olympic Park last weekend.

He urged fans to give Guttenbeil and Webb an appropriate send-off.

"They've both made great contributions to the club and they've been outstanding for us this season," he said. "It'd be nice to see a decent crowd out to farewell them and also to support the team for the last time this year."

Cleary has again been unable to include Nathan Fien (back injury), Tony Martin (shoulder) or Wairangi Koopu (shoulder), meaning the Warriors will take the same team into a match for the third week in a row.

Despite the unavailability of the experienced trio, the Warriors are on a three-match winning streak, an impressive run highlighted by becoming the only team to win in Melbourne this season.

"It was a tremendous effort [winning in Melbourne], even more so because we've been winning without some of our most experienced players," Cleary said.

The Warriors were determined to secure a double over the Roosters, who were beaten 22-12 in the first outing between the 2002 grand finalists back in June.


WARRIORS V ROOSTERS

Mt Smart Stadium, Sunday

Brent Webb, Patrick Ah Van, Lance Hohaia, Simon Mannering, Manu Vatuvei, Jerome Ropati, Grant Rovelli, Ruben Wiki, George Gatis, Steve Price (c), Awen Guttenbeil, Micheal Luck, Louis Anderson. Interchange: Cooper Vuna, Evarn Tuimavave, Epalahame Lauaki, Sam Rapira

- NZPA