Let’s go: With injuries striking well into the second half, the Warriors turn to Nicoll-Klokstad.
No one seemed to notice Ronald Volkman’s release to the St. George Dragons because the club appeared to have plenty of depth at the positions, with veteran Shaun Johnson leading the squad and young players Ronald Volkman, Luke Metcalf, and Te Maire Martin already committed for the season.
Coach Andrew Webster will have to move fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad into the No. 6 shirt against the Penrith Panthers on Sunday since Johnson, Metcalf, and Martin are all out. The Panthers are the three-time defending champions. Webster responded, “No, he wasn’t expecting it, but he said, ‘Let’s go. He loves coming here, therefore, you have to come here every day. That’s what he says when he gets excited about something.
“He seems quite excited. Although he fulfills the needs of the team, I’m sure he would prefer to play fullback.”He’s excited since it’s something new, and he trained well today.” Even with former Dally M medalist Roger Tuivasa-Sheck rejoining the team, Webster has steadfastly defended Nicoll-Klokstad as his first-choice fullback. However, he has also had to rotate his centers, with Rocco Berry and RTS both sidelined by injuries.
Webster could have promoted Ben Farr from the Warriors reserves, but he opted to start Nicoll-Klokstad late in the game and return Taine Tuaupiki to the No. 1 jersey, which he wore so brilliantly in the early going.
Webster declared, “I think Benny is doing really well; I love him.” “Over the previous three weeks, he has made incredible progress. “Every time Taie has played in the NRL, he has performed admirably. Charnze will be excellent—a huge body in the defensive line—if we want to make things more difficult this week and if we don’t have a running mentality.
We won’t be coming up with many elaborate plays this week, I promise, but we will confront the opposition, and I don’t mind at all. This week, we’re going to play to our advantages. It will be what Te Maire, Charnze, and Taine prefer to do, not what Shaun would like to do.”
Due to a shoulder issue, Johnson is not likely to play until after the Warriors’ Round 13 bye. This will give him four weeks to recover from a number of niggles that have bothered him this season. Webster has no choice except to rest him now, as he had wanted to do at some point.
“There’s always a silver lining in anything that goes wrong,” he stated. “He gets a chance to get his body right and come back and feel good about taking the field.”