Rugby league: Nathan Brown reveals reasons for selecting Chanel Harris-Tavita at fullback

Chanel Harris-Tavita will start at fullback for the Warriors. Photo / Photosport

Warriors coach Nathan Brown has no concerns about using Chanel Harris-Tavita at fullback despite his complete lack of experience in the position.

Harris-Tavita will start at fullback for Saturday's NRL opener against the St George Illawarra Dragons in the absence of the suspended Reece Walsh, preferred to other options including Kiwis captain Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

It will be a sharp initiation.

The 22-year-old has played almost all his junior and senior football in the halves, including the large majority of his 37 NRL games, before being used at fullback in the trial against the Melbourne Storm last month.

Brown said that Harris-Tavita's fitness, skillset and toughness meant he ticked enough boxes to be the logical choice.

"He's certainly someone with those attributes, you can learn the defensive part and obviously catching and returning kicks," said Brown. "I didn't think returning the ball would be a problem for him because courage is not a problem for Chanel."

Harris-Tavita has trained almost exclusively at fullback over the last four or five weeks, after a few sessions earlier in the preseason.

That's still limited preparation for one of the most demanding roles in the game, but the coach was unworried about the prospect of the Dragons targeting him.

"Fullback's a lonely spot anyway," said Brown. "You're back there by yourself and if we had Reece [Walsh] back there they'll target him because he's a kid.

"It is such an important position now and such a demanding position. Regardless of whether Chanel's got experience or not there, I'm sure there would be heat there for him anyway."

The other selection flash point was Kodi Nikorima getting the nod in the halves - and the 15-test Kiwi appears to have the inside running to partner Shaun Johnson for an extended spell.

Due to form and injuries, the Warriors used numerous different scrum base combinations last year but Nikorima will be given a decent stint to establish himself at five-eighth.

"We certainly won't be going out of our way to change things," said Brown. "There's got to be some moving parts at times which obviously will come down to injury [and] could come down to form [but] certainly we don't want to be chopping and changing."

Brown observed that Nikorima has enjoyed training alongside Johnson and hopes their previous international experience together could bear fruit at club level, though he emphasised that Ash Taylor and Harris-Tavita will remain in the mix.

Asked about the long-term goals for this season, Brown expects September football.

"We are quite hopeful – the [top] eight has got to be a target for us," said Brown.

"We got some great learnings last year. We had some things that if we had our time again as a staff we would certainly do different, there's no doubt about that. We have certainly improved in some areas - not only as a playing group but as a whole, from staff to high-performance to coaching.

"I can't tell you how much they're going to grow but they've all worked very hard and they all look a lot better in training," said Brown. "If we can get ourselves off to a decent start there's no reason why we shouldn't make the eight."

In terms of an early season recipe, Brown has a simple wish list for Saturday, centred around defensive application and improved tactical control.

"A bit more consistency with our defence," said Brown. "Not only our decision making but with the grit and [contact] around the ruck as well. And better control at different times; that will be some good steps forward for us."