Matt Allwood and Sebastine Ikahihifo have both been recalled for the New Zealand Warriors' 25th-round National Rugby League encounter with Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Warriors wing Matt Allwood Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Allwood has been named on the wing for just the 22-year-old's second NRL appearance of the season while Ikahihifo replaces the injured Jacob Lillyman at prop.
There's one other change to the starting line-up used against North Queensland last Saturday with Bodene Thompson returning to the back row after making his comeback appearance from the bench against the Cowboys.
After joining the club from Canberra, Allwood scored in his Warriors debut against Brisbane in March. An ankle injury later sidelined him during a campaign in which he has made 11 appearances for the club's finals-bound New South Wales Cup side. He has been 18th man for the NRL side the past two weeks.
Ikahihifo has played predominantly in the New South Wales Cup this year but now returns for his eighth NRL outing of the season while Thompson's inclusion ensures the experienced combination in the back row with Simon Mannering and Ryan Hoffman is fully restored.
After debuting as Warrior No.202 last weekend, Mason Lino is again in the halves with his former Marist Saints club-mate Tuimoala Lolohea.
After six losses on end, assistant coach Andrew Webster says the players and coaching staff are desperate to atone for the recent run of reverses.
They face a Wests side sitting last on the table on 18 points with both teams coming off heavy defeats, the Tigers losing 18-40 to Cronulla last Saturday and the Warriors going down 16-50 to the Cowboys.
