League: Wiki to match NRL record

Ruben Wiki

Prop Ruben Wiki will match Stephen Kearney's record for most NRL appearances by a New Zealander as the Warriors take an unchanged 17 to Melbourne on Saturday night.

Wiki will play his 264th first-grade match, equalling the record held by Kearney, who is now the Melbourne Storm assistant coach.

Helping Wiki celebrate the milestone will be his mother Tessa, who now lives in Melbourne.

"I suppose when you play as long as I have these things come along but it's still nice to get there and to know mum will be in the crowd watching," Wiki said yesterday.

"But for a few trips to the judiciary I would have made it this far a little sooner."

Wiki will break Kearney's record in front of his home crowd in Auckland against the Sydney Roosters the following weekend.

Warriors coach Ivan Cleary has stayed with the same 17 players used in the 26-0 win against North Queensland. Despite the victory they are out of playoffs contention.

Utility Lance Hohaia will again line up in the centres, George Gatis starts at hooker and Micheal Luck in the second row.

It had been hoped centre Tony Martin (shoulder), Nathan Fien (back) and Wairangi Koopu (shoulder) could return against Melbourne but all three have again been ruled out.

Melbourne, almost certain of the minor premiership, will be seeking their 12th consecutive win.

"It was a great win against the Cowboys when you consider how many experienced players we were missing," Cleary said. "But it's a daunting trip we now face to Melbourne.

"The Storm have been showing the way all season and to win 11 games on end is an outstanding achievement. We've had a couple of good wins but this takes us to another level against a well-coached side full of quality."

When the sides met in round one this year, the Storm won 22-16 in Auckland.

* Melbourne, Saturday, 9.30pm

Warriors

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

Storm

Greg Inglis
Matt Geyer
Matt King
Jake Webster
Steve Turner
Scott Hill
Cooper Cronk
Antonio Kaufusi
Cameron Smith
Brett White
David Kidwell
Ryan Hoffman
Dallas Johnson

Interchange:

Warriors: Cooper Vuna, Evarn Tuimavave, Epalahame Lauaki, Sam Rapira.

Storm: Garrett Crossman, Jeremy Smith, Adam Blair, Nathan Friend, Jamie Feeney, Jeff Lima

- NZPA