KEY POINTS:
A training ground injury has forced vice-captain Ruben Wiki out of the New Zealand Warriors' final National Rugby League round-robin match against Penrith in Sydney on Saturday night.
Wiki, 34, damaged his ribs during the team's session last night and was unable to take part in today's practice.
The setback is the second this week for the Warriors, who will guarantee a top-four finish and home advantage in the first week of the finals if they beat the Panthers.
Centre Jerome Ropati was ruled out for the rest of the season because of a fractured shoulder blade received during the win over Manly last Sunday.
Coach Ivan Cleary described Wiki's unavailability as another major blow.
"It's shattering to go into a match like this without Ruben," he said.
"We were really disappointed to lose Jerome earlier this week and to be without Ruben as well makes the task even more challenging than it already was for this match against the Panthers."
Cleary said he hoped Wiki would be right for the start of the playoff series next week.
The second rower would still travel with the 17 other players originally named, while Sonny Fai is the new player added to the squad.
Fai, who has yet to make his NRL debut, joins Todd Byrne, Evarn Tuimavave, Epalahame Lauaki, Louis Anderson and George Gatis on a six-man bench, with the Warriors' final line-up to be confirmed on Saturday.
- NZPA
