League: Warriors look to improve home record

The New Zealand Warriors are hoping a little tinkering in their preparation might help them to reverse a poor home record in the National Rugby League.

The Warriors have won just once in four outings in Auckland this season, which doesn't come close to making Ericsson Stadium a venue for opposition teams to fear.

Next to visit tomorrow night are defending premiers Wests Tigers, who have already crossed the Tasman once this year, going down to the Warriors in Christchurch in March.

That match was classed as an away fixture for the Warriors, whose sole win on their own ground has been against the only side below them on the table, South Sydney.

Coach Ivan Cleary was at a loss to explain why the home results had been below expectations.

"I wish I knew," he said.

"It's been a home disadvantage rather than advantage, and that's certainly not the way we want it."

Cleary said the Warriors had played "okay" at home, but that hadn't been enough against teams who had been up for the challenge of coming to Auckland.

"There's a few things we're altering in terms of preparation," he said, without wanting to elaborate.

"We seem to get prepared quite well away, so there are a couple of things we're tinkering with there."

In their round-three meeting at Jade Stadium, the Warriors beat the Tigers 26-10.

The Tigers had some key players out with injury that night, including star five-eighth Benji Marshall, who was recovering from a fractured cheekbone.

The upcoming match will be Marshall's fourth since he began his comeback from another injury, a dislocated shoulder, with an appearance in the Anzac test.

Both sides have their skippers unavailable because of State of Origin duty, with the Warriors' Steve Price in camp with Queensland and Tiger Brett Hodgson with New South Wales.

Price's absence means Evarn Tuimavave partners stand-in skipper Ruben Wiki as the starting props, while frontrower Sam Rapira, 19, is in line to make his NRL debut off the bench.

While Price would be missed for his ability to gain metres and for his captaincy, Cleary was confident the back-up would provide adequate cover.

"Ruben knows he needs to step up and try to fill that breach and he has a couple of young guys with him in Evarn and Sammy," he said.

"But Ruben is a great leader and I'm sure he'll do well, and I'm really confident about the other guys as well filling the void."

The Tigers lie 10th on the table, separated from the top eight by points difference alone after a contentious 16-18 loss to Newcastle last weekend.

Coach Tim Sheens has refused to back down over his belief that video referee Bill Harrigan made a mistake in awarding the Knights their winning try.

Sheens has brought in Shannon McDonnell, 18, as Hodgson's replacement.

Meanwhile, a late change has added to the New Zealand connection in the Tigers' squad, with one-test Kiwi Bronson Harrison coming on to the bench for Ryan O'Hara, who has a hamstring problem.

Apart from Harrison and Marshall, others to have worn the Kiwis jersey are Paul Whatuira, Jamaal Lolesi and Dene Halatau, while the bench also includes former Aucklander Taniela Tuiaka.

- NZPA