PHOTO
Utility Lance Hohaia and back rower Elijah Taylor return to the New Zealand Warriors for their National Rugby League (NRL) match against the Penrith Panthers in Sydney on Saturday night.
Hohaia comes on to the interchange bench for his first appearance since being sidelined with a knee injury after the team's win against the Canterbury Bulldogs on July 15.
He played his first game in a month when he turned out for the Auckland Vulcans in their 28-20 win over Wentworthville in the New South Wales Cup last Saturday, scoring a try and laying on two of fullback Glen Fisiiahi's three tries.
Hohaia replaces Pita Godinet, who has been on the bench for the last four weeks.
Taylor also makes his return from the bench.
He was rested last week after appearing in 17 consecutive matches since his NRL debut against Cronulla in April.
Taylor replaces Ukuma Ta'ai, who faces suspension after being charged with a grade two striking offence for an incident during their win over Newcastle last Saturday.
Ta'ai has taken an early guilty plea on the charge but the club is disputing the grading. This issue is to be considered at an NRL judicial hearing tomorrow night.
With five wins in six games since their second bye, the Warriors are in sixth spot. They are level on 28 points with Wests Tigers, one behind last year's premiers the St George Illawarra Dragons and two behind the North Queensland Cowboys.
After the Panthers, the Warriors face the Dragons and the Cowboys in their last two regular season games.
"The Panthers are down the table (11th) but they're always dangerous and have the ability to make us pay if we don't pay attention to our own game," Warriors head coach Ivan Cleary said.
"We were guilty of a poor first half performance against the Knights last week but fortunately we got out of the game with a much better effort in the second spell. We can't let that happen again."
Warriors: Kevin Locke, Bill Tupou, Joel Moon, Shaun Berrigan, Manu Vatuvei, James Maloney, Shaun Johnson, Russell Packer, Aaron Heremaia, Jacob Lillyman, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering (captain), Micheal Luck. Interchange: Lance Hohaia, Sam Rapira, Ben Matulino, Elijah Taylor, Lewis Brown (18th man).