NRL: McKinnon leads return from the wilderness

Wade McKinnon. Photo / Greg Bowker

Last week's radical shake-up at the Warriors appears to have been a one-off.

Back to face the hard-charging Eels in Sydney on Saturday after an - albeit brief - wilderness trip are fullback Wade McKinnon, centre Jerome Ropati and hooker Ian Henderson.

Given last Sunday's underwhelming effort against the high-flying Gold Coast Titans, the return to the status quo is hardly a surprise.

McKinnon's stand-down for a breach of club discipline was only ever going to be for a week and his understudy, Kevin Locke, did little to suggest he should have the full-time job.

Ropati is undoubtedly a better option than the erratic Patrick Ah Van, while Henderson was sprightly off the bench after receiving a late call into the 17.

Aaron Heremaia has been retained at five-eighth, while forwards Ukuma Ta'ai and Evarn Tuimavave - both impressive off the bench against the Titans - have been promoted to the starting line-up.

"We didn't start well against the Titans but our bench players did a good job getting us back into the game when they came on," coach Ivan Cleary said.

"Evarn has come back really well in his late start to the season and Ukuma showed lots of good signs with his effort. They've earned the chance to start this week."

Apart from Ah Van, who sealed his fate with a poor final quarter against the Titans, the major casualty is young second rower Ben Matulino, dropped from the 17 altogether.

Russell Packer and Lewis Brown, who started at hooker against the Titans, revert to the bench, while Locke returns to right wing.

Eels
Jarryd Hayne, Luke Burt, Krisnan Inu, Joel Reddy, Eric Grothe, Daniel Mortimer, Jeff Robson, Tim Mannah, Matthew Keating, Fuifui Moimoi, Nathan Hindmarsh (capt), Joe Galuvao, Todd Lowrie. Interchange: Kevin Kingston, Broderick Wright, Ben Smith, Jeremy Latimore.

Warriors
Wade McKinnon, Kevin Locke, Jerome Ropati, Joel Moon, Manu Vatuvei, Aaron Heremaia, Stacey Jones, Sam Rapira, Ian Henderson, Evarn Tuimavave, Simon Mannering, Ukuma Ta'ai, Micheal Luck (capt). Interchange: Lance Hohaia, Russell Packer, Jacob Lillyman, Lewis Brown.