NRL Team List: Martin at halfback, RTS in contention

Te Maire Martin continues at halfback for the injured Tanah Boyd while Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been named in the extended squad for the One New Zealand Warriors’ round 12 NRL encounter with St George Illawarra at Jubilee Stadium in Sydney on Saturday (5.30pm kick-off local time; 7.30pm NZT).

And with second rower Kurt Capewell (Queensland) and co-captain Mitchell Barnett (New South Wales) on State of Origin duty, there are two changes to the starting pack used in Sunday’s superb 42-12 Magic Round won over the Broncos.

Jackson Ford, surprisingly overlooked for New South Wales selection, is named to start at prop after being injected from the bench on Sunday with Jacob Laban coming back into the run-on side for Capewell.

The knock-on effect of the changes sees back rowers Eddie Ieremia-Toeava and Marata Niukore plus standoff Luke Hanson added to the six-man bench alongside hooker Sam Healey and front rowers Demitric Vaimauga and Tanner Stowers-Smith.

With the in-form Boyd cruelly ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury, the remarkable 30-year-old Martin will shoulder the halfback responsibilities in only his third start in the last two seasons.

Of his 17 appearances last year one was at standoff and one at halfback with the other 15 off the bench.

Going into Sunday’s battle against the Broncos, Martin had played just once this season since returning from a broken leg in the All Stars match in February – and that was at loose forward for the club’s New South Wales Cup side followed by a bye the following week.

Despite his lack of football he produced an exceptional 74-minute performance in which he scored a try, had two try assist and a line break assist plus 28 tackles.

Named in jersey #23 this week is Tuivasa-Sheck who is eyeing a return after missing the Magic Round with an AC shoulder issue he picked up late in the 36-14 round nine win over Parramatta on May 2.

The Warriors head into round 12 with an 8-2 record sitting alone in second on the table on 18 points, two behind Penrith and two ahead of the third-placed Sydney Roosters. In 10 games they have scored 320 (second to Penrith’s 349 in 11 games) and conceded 182 (second to the Panthers’ 146).

With five wins on end the Warriors have the chance to move within one of the seven-win run achieved in 2023 and two behind the club record of eight consecutive wins in 2002.

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