Player of the year Shaun Johnson is on track to line up for the One New Zealand Warriors against the Newcastle Knights in Saturday’s NRL semifinal at Go Media Stadium (6.05pm kick-off).
A calf complaint ruled the 250-game veteran halfback out of the qualifying final against Penrith on his 33rd birthday last Saturday.
Head coach Andrew Webster has today included Johnson in a squad unchanged from the one initially named last week for the trip to Sydney.
In Johnson’s absence against the Panthers, Te Maire Martin was moved to halfback for just his second first-grade outing since breaking his left fibula in early April.
Ironically that was against the Knights, the injury coming just after halftime in the 24-34 sixth-round loss in Newcastle. That was also the last time Johnson and Martin were in the side together.
Earlier they were also paired up against the Knights in the club’s first-round encounter in Wellington when the One New Zealand Warriors launched their season with a gritty 20-12 win.
The starting pack named for Saturday’s final is the same as the one used in Wellington on March 3 when new signing Mitchell Barnett was in the front row against his former teammates, one of six players making their club debuts.
The performance in the capital provided the foundations for a season which saw the One New Zealand Warriors go on to register 16 wins and claim a top four spot to guarantee a home final for the first time since 2008.
While the One New Zealand Warriors go into Saturday’s semi-final on the back of a 6-32 loss to defending premier Penrith, the Knights edged Canberra 30-28 in a dramatic extra-time contest in Newcastle on Sunday. It was the Knights’ 10th win on end, one short of the club record of 11.
They finished the regular season in fifth spot on 35 points, three behind the Warriors.
There has been little between the two clubs in 48 meetings since 1995, the One New Zealand Warriors winning 23 times, the Knights 24 with one draw.
This will be the first match between them in Auckland since 2019 when Newcastle won 36-18.
