Former Warrior and Kiwis captain Adam Blair believes the Warriors halves must step up against the Titans on Saturday afternoon, as they reel the loss of Shaun Johnson to injury.
Johnson’s injury, which will see him sidelined for at least one month, has left room for debutant Ash Taylor to make his first appearance for the club.
Taylor and Chanel Harris-Tavita have been named in the halves, as coach Nathan Brown opted to sideline Kodi Nikorima after a quiet performance in Round 1.
“It’s a great opportunity for Ash Taylor to get a crack against his old team and get one back against them,” Blair said on SENZ's The Run Home.
“Chanel gets an opportunity through Reece being back and I guess Kodi misses out.
“In my opinion, he wasn’t involved in the game enough in Round 1 so he may have missed out there.
“Maybe a bit harsh for Round 1, because a lot of their stuff was individual errors, but as a half you need to be involved in the game.”
Warriors fans will be hoping that Harris-Tavita and Taylor can provide an answer for the club, who have struggled throughout the last couple of seasons to find a combination that works.
With Johnson out, the two will be feeling the pressure to perform, however Blair believes that Brown’s cut-throat approach to squad-naming will lift the side to put their best foot forward.
“We had that problem last year as well,” he said.
“If you can’t get any consistency with your halves, then your combinations are changing every week, then everything else outside you changes as well.
“So I thought it was quite harsh leaving Kodi out, but it has put a statement to the boys and if you aren’t going to perform, you are going to be left out of the team.”
The Warriors will be hoping to put in a better performance this afternoon than they did in Round 1, however they will have to battle the Titans in the Gold Coast sun to snatch themselves the win.
The match is set to be played at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast, with kick-off at 5:00pm NZT.