Saturday first NRL Round 21 match is between New Zealand Warriors and Cronulla Sharks with the opening kick to commence at 3.00pm local time. The game is to be played at Mt Smart Stadium which see’s home team New Zealand Warriors hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between New Zealand Warriors and Cronulla Sharks.

WHERE AND WHEN: Mt Smart Stadium, 3.00pm

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Opening odds comparison:

New Zealand Warriors	1.42	1.45	1.42	1.45	1.42	1.46
Cronulla Sharks	2.95	2.75	2.95	2.75	2.95	2.88

Preview:

The first Saturday game is between the Warriors and the Sharks, kicking off at 3.00pm at Mt Smart Stadium. The Warriors will go into this match as favourites, despite the impressive performance shown by the Sharks last weekend. It has not been a good week off the field for Cronulla, with the walkout of CEO Bruno Cullen and the onset of ASADA interviews. The Warriors should be able to win here at home, with a lot of momentum on their side after defeating the premiers last week. This will be a hard fought game though, with the 6th placed Sharks needing to hang on to their top eight spot.

Teams:

New Zealand Warriors:
Kevin Locke, Ngani Laumape, Dane Nielsen, Konrad Hurrell, Manu Vatuvei, Thomas Leuluai, Shaun Johnson, Sam Rapira, Nathan Friend, Ben Matulino, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering (capt), Elijah Taylor. Interchange: Suaia Matagi, Jacob Lillyman, Todd Lowrie, Dominique Peyroux.

Cronulla Sharks:
Michael Gordon, Sosaia Feki, Ben Pomeroy, Jonathan Wright, Nathan Stapleton, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Andrew Fifita, John Morris, Bryce Gibbs, Jayson Bukuya, Wade Graham, Paul Gallen (capt). Interchange: Isaac De Gois, Chris Heighington, Sam Tagataese, Ben Ross, Tyrone Peachey (one to be omitted).

Friend mulling over Warriors offer

Warriors hooker Nathan Friend expects to have his rugby league future sorted out over the next 12 days as his NRL team attempts to maintain its great late season charge.

After having initially been told by the Warriors he wouldn’t be required for 2014, the Warriors have tabled him an offer.

Friend asked for a time extension to consider it and has a deadline of August 12.

The 32-year-old Australian says his preference is to say in Auckland. He’s enjoyed his time in the city, his wife has settled in well and their children are at school.

But the deal before him is less than the one he signed when he moved from Gold Coast before the start of the 2012 season and he says he has to do what’s best for his family.

“Obviously, the offer they’ve come forward with is different from the one we negotiated a couple of years ago, and there’s a lot of things we have to take into account,” he said on Wednesday.

“We’ve got a couple of weeks to try to sort something out. I’d like to stay, but I have to see what’s available.

“The timing’s not great – it’s a little bit too late in the season – but you can’t do too much about that now.”

An 80-minute player, Friend again topped the Warriors’ tackle count in their thrill-a-minute 30-22 upset of defending champions Melbourne last Sunday.

The win was the Warriors’ seventh in eight matches and propelled them to ninth on the table ahead of Saturday’s home match against sixth-placed Cronulla, who sit two points above them.

The run has built belief within the Warriors camp, but Friend rules out any over-confidence.

“It’s just nice to know that, when a team comes back at us like Melbourne did at the weekend, we have the confidence to get back into our game,” he said.

“We know that, if we do things well, we’re going to get the result.”