One of the narratives that I've continuously rolled out in my Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan this season has been how greater depth has allowed the Warriors to absorb the ins and outs, mandatory ins and outs of an NRL season. Those mandatory ins and outs usually come in the form of injury or suspension and we can praise Jah, that more depth has coincided with the first Denver Test.

I kinda wonder if coach Stephen Kearney isn't fussed about the availabilities of Issac Luke, Ken Maumalo and Peta Hiku because the 17 he has named is still low key funky. Kearney has replaced Hiku and Maumalo with Anthony Gelling and Gerard Beale, both of whom have played NRL footy this year and while Karl Lawton clearly isn't on Luke's level, Lawton now has a chance to start.

Shuffling his team allows Kearney to have a geeze at a few different aspects of the Warriors, against a weird ol' opposition in Cronulla Sharks. Cronulla went on a nice winning streak last month and this had many people hyping them up, only to neglect the fact that they had bullied weaker teams; they started their streak with a handy win vs Panthers, then got wins against Titans, Eels, Raiders, Bulldogs and Knights.

Since then, the Sharks have lost to the Rabbitohs and Broncos with a win against the Tigers. Now they take a trip across the ditch to play the Warriors and as the Warriors aren't quite at full-strength, this will be a fascinating contest for us as Warriors fans and I'm sure Sharks fans will be eager to see how their team performs given the context.

Harping on about Kearney's selections doesn't feel like the wisest move right now, because there could be an almighty re-jigging come game time. I'm writing this before Kearney has to slim down his extended bench which will either include or exclude the Kiwis trio, let alone the changes that could come prior to the game. If I go too deep down that rabbit-hole, there will end up being changes and everything I say will go out the windows.

There is still the core group of Warriors and as long as Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Blake Green and Shaun Johnson are in the spine, the baseline level of performance should still be there. Other than Adam Blair's absence, this is still a strong Warriors forward pack with Simon Mannering replacing Blair in the No.13 jersey.

Yeah, Blair's not playing.

Of all the selection queries, we know for certain that Blair won't be playing and that not only provides some concrete ground for me to stand on, it also presents an enticing challenge for the Warriors forward pack. This is the perfect game for Blair as the Sharks play a rugged style of footy through the middle and with the gangly legs of Andrew Fifita and Matt Prior leading the Sharks down-field, Blair's the perfect bloke to chop them down.

The Warriors will also be without the standard Blair niggle on the opposition halves. Most of the Sharks ball goes through Chad Townsend and Blair could have put a target on Townsend, while also plugging holes on the inside; Fifita often lurks on an edge then bursts back inside towards tired middle defenders.

Blair is also 3rd in offloads for the Warriors this season. The Warriors won't lose any go-forward in the sense of metres that Blair makes himself, but Blair plays a secondary role in go-forward as his offloads and/or passing leads to metres made elsewhere. Mannering's a bloody good middle forward who literally does it all and he'll tick those boxes, but Kearney has often played Blair and Mannering together in the middle this season to offer all sorts of razzle dazzle combined with toughness.

It's also worth noting that Hiku is 1st in Warriors offloads and Luke is 4th. That means that three of the best offloaders won't be playing in this game and when you consider how the Warriors have been playing their footy this season, someone else will need to step up in that regard to help the Warriors shift the footy around (if Hiku and Luke don't play).

Alternatively, Kearney could switch the style up to suit his personnel and play a more conservative style in terms of offloading. This would be low key brilliant as Kearney would be showing an ability to adapt, along with the players as well as reinforcing the fact that the Warriors can beat you in a variety of different ways. Especially at the Mt Smart Graveyard.

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Peace and love 27.