Warriors: Jones set for milestone as Cleary rings changes

Quarantined prop Steve Price was today named to skipper the New Zealand Warriors in their National Rugby League match against Newcastle in Auckland on Friday night.

Along with the rest of the Queensland State of Origin squad, Price was put in isolation on Monday after team-mate Ben Hannant was diagnosed with swine flu.

He stayed at home today while the rest of Warriors trained at Mt Smart Stadium.

Coach Ivan Cleary said Price had shown no signs of having the bug and was expected back with the team on Thursday.

Cleary said there were no concerns among other Warriors over their contact with their captain, who was on the field with them in the defeat to Cronulla on Sunday.

"I haven't even spoken about it, really," he said.

"It's just one of those things. He got ordered to do it. Nobody has shown any signs of being sick."

Cleary added that Price was probably due for a few days off anyway, having backed up from Origin 1 last Wednesday.

"Ideally, I would have like him in here but he was never going to train that much," he said.

"It probably won't hurt him."

Also stood down was head trainer Craig Walker, who is on the New South Wales coaching staff.

"Craig's at home blowing up about it because he feels fine," Cleary said.

The swine flu drama had a direct impact on the Gold Coast-St George Illawarra match last night.

Titan Ashley Harrison and Dragon Darius Boyd were both late scratchings from the Gold Coast's 28-24 win at Skilled Park.

Meanwhile, veteran halfback Stacey Jones will reach another milestone - his 250th first-grade match - when he runs on against the Knights.

Jones, 33, returned this year to the playing roster at the Warriors, his only NRL club, after three seasons away.

He will be reunited in the halves with utility Lance Hohaia, who replaces Joel Moon, unavailable after being concussed against the Sharks.

In the centres, Patrick Ah Van returns from injury, while Simon Mannering moves from the second row to take over from Jerome Ropati, who has been dropped from the 17.

Hooker Ian Henderson, who has been on bereavement leave after his father's death, is back after missing the past two rounds.

Clearly has reshuffled the backrow, with Ben Matulino and Lewis Brown, who scored his first NRL try last weekend, chosen as the starting second rowers.

"We've made some changes looking to bring some enthusiasm into the side," he said.

"There's no question we are doing a lot of things well, but we again had an issue against Cronulla with our start and with our energy levels in the opening part of the match."

The Sharks led 18-0 after just half-an-hour at Toyota Stadium, a deficit that proved too great for the Warriors, who went down 18-10 to drop to 12th spot on the ladder.

New Zealand Warriors: Wade McKinnon, Kevin Locke, Patrick Ah Van, Simon Mannering, Manu Vatuvei, Lance Hohaia, Stacey Jones, Sam Rapira, Ian Henderson, Steve Price (captain), Lewis Brown, Ben Matulino, Micheal Luck. Interchange - Aaron Heremaia, Russell Packer, Jesse Royal, Jacob Lillyman.

- NZPA