NRL: Tate and McKinnon late starters for Manly match

Brent Tate says he's hoping to quickly regain form in time for the start of the season. Photo / Dean Purcell

Star centre Brent Tate and fullback Wade McKinnon are late additions to the Warriors' line-up for this evening's final trial against Manly at North Harbour Stadium.

Tate hasn't played since a season-ending knee injury against his former club Brisbane in just the third match of the 2009 season.

That match marked a rather emphatic bursting of the Warriors' bubble, with Tate's injury one of the key factors in the club's rapid decline as the season went on from potential title contender to also-ran.

The classy Australia and Queensland representative has been hampered by a niggling quad injury since Christmas but he came through yesterday's final training well enough to be added to the bench.

Having endured a second knee reconstruction in the space of three seasons, Tate isn't expecting to be at his sharpest for some time yet.

"Like everyone at this time of year I am just looking forward to playing," he said.

"It has been frustrating but there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel now. I am a little bit under-done but hopefully I can work really hard over the next couple of weeks and, come round one, I can start picking it up pretty quickly."

Having come under renewed pressure from Kiwis fullback Lance Hohaia for his starting place, McKinnon will also be glad of the chance to return to action today.

It had seemed McKinnon would sit out the match with an ankle injury suffered in training in Cairns last week but he too received the all clear following training yesterday.

With the Warriors having already chalked up trial wins over the Roosters and Cowboys, coach Ivan Cleary admitted there was a degree of optimism building at the club.

"Our conditioning looks pretty good," Cleary said. "We've been finishing games strongly and that is a good sign. And even though you use a lot of players in these trials it hasn't really affected the way we are playing, so I'm pretty happy about that.

"The team is working okay together but it is early days. There is always optimism but I guess what you don't know is how well everybody else is going. The NRL is so tight and so even, you have got to put it all in context. We are really just focusing hard on making sure we can handle the six months and be good all the way throughout."

Manly coach Des Hasler has named his first-choice side for a match that will be played in two 40-minute halves rather than 20-minute quarters traditionally used in trial matches.

Outstanding fullback Brett Stewart, Kangaroos second rower Anthony Watmough and Kiwis internationals Steve Matai and Kieran Foran are also in the run-on side. Foran, the newest Kiwi Test player, is at halfback in place of the departed Matt Orford.