Most of Stephen Kearney’s Warriors strategies have borne fruit so far in 2018 and he hopes a change in role for talismanic forward Simon Mannering does the same.
Among the most respected players in the club’s history thanks to his tireless work rate, Mannering won’t be an automatic 80-minute man under Kearney in 2018.
The 31-year-old former Warriors skipper won’t always be on the edges.
He’ll often find himself in a draining role in the centre of the field, primarily to provide the defensive glue.
It’s a duty he’ll share with fellow-veteran Adam Blair, 32, the Kiwis World Cup captain who will also have his minutes reduced. The pair have racked up 560 NRL games between them.
Tohu Harris and Isaiah Papali’i will be employed wider and are candidates to play through matches.
Kearney unveiled his strategy when asked to explain Mannering’s late switch to the bench before the second-placed Warriors’ 26-4 win over Wests Tigers on Saturday.
“It’s trying to rotate those two older guys, or two more experienced guys, more efficiently so we get the best out of them,” Kearney said.
“I reckon it wouldn’t matter what you told Simon. He didn’t hesitate. When he comes on, he takes over from what Adam’s doing and keeps it nice and clean in the middle.”
Blair had given Kearney’s plan a reluctant thumb’s up after Mannering missed the early rounds with a shoulder injury.
“Again, not happy, but whatever’s best for the team, I’ll put my hand up,” Blair said.
“I’ve played a lot of minutes the last eight weeks and now that Simon’s back, (Kearney) can afford to do a few of those sorts of things.”
Blair was satisfied by the performance against the Tigers although he didn’t believe it was as intense as two weeks earlier, when they became the only team so far to topple the competition-leading St George Illawarra Dragons.
A key motivation was the 40-point thumping they copped against the Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day, with the players determined to return to what had worked through the first seven rounds.
Blair left the Tigers game early with an ankle injury but said it was minor and wouldn’t stop him facing the Sydney Roosters in Auckland on Saturday.
