NRL: Hungry Vatuvei back in attack

Manu Vatuvei is back and he can't wait to get his teeth into the Sharks this weekend.

The Warriors' giant winger has been sidelined with a shoulder injury for a month but he returns in his familiar left wing position on Saturday.

He'll make up a strong looking left edge with the in form Solomone Kata retaining his left centre spot, while Ben Matulino moves into the second row to beef up the Warriors left side.

Vatuvei scored a try in his last outing against Canberra in round 16 and his return is a huge boost for the Warriors, who lost Shaun Johnson and Bodene Thompson in their defeat to Manly last weekend.

"I'm excited for myself to come back," said Vatuvei. "I'm itching to get back on the field and put my boots back on. I can't wait to go.

"I wanted to come back last week but there was a few risks there and they didn't want me to push myself a little bit early.

"This week was my target week and I had to do everything right, do a lot of rehab and make sure that my strength on my shoulder was good."

The 29-year-old missed the win over the Storm in round 18 which saw the Warriors climb to fourth but they backed that great result up with two bad losses against the Roosters and Manly.

As one of the more experienced players in the side, Vatuvei's presence will lift some of the younger players who clearly struggled after the Warriors lost Shaun Johnson for the season in the defeat to Manly.

Vatuvei added: "It's always tough sitting back at home when you can't help out the boys. I've been supporting them and keeping them happy to keep playing.

"We know what Shaun can bring to the table. It's a setback but we've got to keep going. There would be a few heads dropping and we need to move on and get on with the next job.

"We'll bounce back from that and hopefully we can redeem ourselves this week. With Tui coming to the halves we know what he can do to."

Vatuvei also revealed his troublesome shoulder problem is something he'll continue to manage carefully with the help of the Warriors staff, who want him to remain as fit as possible for the run in before the finals.

"It's something I'll always have to manage and strap up. I'm never 100% to be honest. There's always little niggles on my body but it's not something I can't handle. I can keep playing with it."