New Zealand Warriors coach Brian McClennan is unflinching in his faith that his injury-hit side can do the business up front against NRL premiers Manly on Sunday.
The Warriors will go into their grand final rematch in Auckland without key props Jacob Lillyman and Sam Rapira, while another front-row option, Rapira’s brother Steve, is also among the wounded.
Rather than having a formidable rotation of Queensland Origin representative Lillyman and three Kiwis in Sam Rapira, Ben Matulino and Russell Packer, McClennan has drafted in two players known more as second rowers.
Matulino and Packer will start against the Sea Eagles, while Sione Lousi and Ukuma Ta’ai will provide relief off the bench.
McClennan, who is also without workaholic lock Micheal Luck, remains philosophical about starting the season, and his own NRL career, with a lengthy injury list.
“Injuries can create pressure if you haven’t prepared contingency plans and we have,” he said on Thursday.
“We’ve got some fine boys stepping up at the weekend and the testing ground will be Eden Park on Sunday and how we perform, and I’ll back our boys to do a good job in the middle of the park.”
Matulino, whose 86 first-grade matches make him the most senior of the Warriors props to face Manly, is similarly confident about the ability of his team-mates to step up.
He rates Lousi, who has made nine appearances in two NRL seasons, as the best performed of the front-rowers as the club went through their three pre-season matches unbeaten.
“Judging by the way the trials went, Sione was probably the stand-out prop out of all of us,” he said of the 22-year-old Tongan international.
“He played the most minutes and he’s probably the one to look out for.”