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KEY POINTS:
For once, the Warriors have competition for spots in the halves.
Many people will speculate that former Warriors and Kiwis great Stacey Jones will have a walk-up start as he makes his comeback after three seasons out of the NRL, one year out of football.
Not so.
How
could they pick Jones ahead of last year's Warriors and Kiwis halfback Nathan Fien who steered the club and country to victory in tight games and kicked the Kiwis a long way towards victory in the World Cup decider?
Fien may shift to five-eighth, where he has been running at times in pre-season training and where he may spend some time against the Cowboys in their trial at Albany tomorrow.
"I feel comfortable there," Fien said. He agreed his kicking game had improved last year but felt it was always there, it just needed adjustment. "I've always been a confident kicker but it's different at halfback from hooker."
Also pushing for the five-eighth spot is Broncos buy-in Joel Moon, big and strong and seeking to cement his preferred position, instead of playing at centre or on the wing as he did for Brisbane.
"It's going good, we're starting to work out some combinations," Moon said. He has had Jones, under20s player Isaac John, Storm buy-in Liam Foran and Aaron Heremaia inside him "and they're all going good. There's a lot of competition in the halves, it's healthy."
Moon sees his role as offering some strike power near the ruck - "I like ball-running" - and is looking forward to sending away the strike players out wider: Jerome Ropati, Brent Tate and Manu Vatuvei, with Wade McKinnon coming from the back in support.
"It's always good playing with good players outside you, they make you look better. We have a good team this year," Moon said.
When told the Eels would likely shift wing Jarryd Hayne to five-eighth for the season opener against the Warriors on March 14, Moon's response was "nice". He likes playing good players - it's a good test.
One thing is sure - Jones won't play at five-eighth as Cleary sees him purely as a halfback. "Stacey showed he can bring a lot to us on the field this year [during the trial against the Storm], he's a good man to have around because of his experience and for the young guys to learn from."
Cleary said he had "an idea" about who would start in the six and seven jerseys against Parramatta, "but it's far from settled".
He will mix things around in the trial tomorrow. "There's an opportunity there for every player who takes the field," Cleary said, just a few spots in his top 17 already written in.
With three season behind him at the Warriors and two years to go on his contract, the coach is comfortable with the back-up for the top squad and the development players coming through. He said the halves and second row would be pressure points where there would be strong competition for spots.
The halves' selection for the May Anzac test is clearer, with Fien and Benji Marshall the sure starters in six and seven (or seven and six) provided both hold their form of 2008.
Fien is dead keen to continue the success of 2008. He "definitely" wanted to be part of the Kiwis' future and was confident both they and the Warriors were in position to push on.
"There are so many players to come back into the Kiwis, even Roy [captain Asotasi] wasn't there. And it's a young team - Sam Rapira, Lance Hohaia, Simon Mannering, Manu Vatuvei, Jerome Ropati - they're all in their early 20s. It could turn into a bit of a golden era in New Zealand league."
