9 Sep 2008

Warriors name unchanged team

5:40 pm on 9 September 2008

The Warriors have named an unchanged line-up for their National Rugby League play-off against 2008 minor premiers the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park on Sunday.

The match will give winger Manu Vatuveihis first taste of finals football after injury ruled him out of last year's campaign.

Vatuvei scored a hat-trick in last Saturday night's finals-clinching 28-6 win over Parramatta giving him five tries in his last two matches and 14 for the season in 14 appearances.

The only other Warriors experiencing an NRL finals match for the first time will be right winger Aidan Kirk, hooker Ian Henderson and second rower Ben Matulino.

Thirteen of the 18 players were involved in the Warriors' post-season campaign last year while Brent Tate has plenty of experience, including grand final success with Brisbane.

Coach Ivan Cleary says it'll be a huge task taking on the minor premiers at home and while his side produced a good effort against Parramatta they'l need to be a lot better again to compete if they're to compete with the Storm.