NRL: Maumalo out to keep starting spot

Ken Maumalo is determined to nail down a regular spot in the Warriors first team.

The 21-year-old winger enjoyed a purple patch in the NRL just over a month ago but he hasn't featured since the Warriors' biggest win of the season on the Gold Coast in round 15.

He suffered an ankle injury and he's had to prove himself again to Andrew McFadden in the New South Wales Cup and he scored four tries in the 24-22 win over the Illawara Cutters a few weeks ago.

Glen Fiisiahi was named on the right wing ahead of him last weekend but now he has another chance to shine when he starts against the Sharks tomorrow.

Maumalo told the Herald last month that he never expected to feature in the NRL this year but he's in line for his fifth game of 2015.

"It's my spot to lose now and I'm trying anything I can to prove my point," said Maumalo.

"I'm thankful and I'm hounored that Cappy gave me another opportunity to prove why I should be in that team.

"It's good to be back. That was the goal to achieve when I was coming back from injury. I worked hard and I tried to get back into the team as soon as possible."

Maumalo started on the right wing and scored a try in the Warriors New South Wales cup side last week and just like the NRL game, Manly took the spoils with a narrow 18-16 win.
He knows the step up will be intense and he said everyone needs time to adjust to the NRL.

"I'd single out the pace of the game," he said. "It's faster, the physicality is tougher and it's quite hard to adapt to. You need to get a couple of games in there to get a hang of the speed."

The Warriors right edge - that's been consistently changing week in, week out - will also see the return of Konrad Hurrell at centre and Maumalo knows just what he's capable of.
"He's a hard player to face," he added. "He's all action and I've got to try and run off him, push off him and support him as much as I can.

"We've been changing a lot though the year and I guess that's what Cappy wants. It's quite hard adapting to different combinations each week but I guess that's part of footy."