Aotearoa Warriors plan of flying under the radar is live and in full effect as they host Penrith Panthers at Mt Smart on Friday night, sans Blake Green. This presents an intriguing challenge for the Warriors given that they are without their glue-guy and come up against an unpredictable Panthers team who need to find some form ahead of the Finals.

Everyone knows about Penrith's dramas and we may be seeing the impact of such dramas at this stage of the season, after they were beaten by Newcastle Knights. Then coach Cameron Ciraldo re-jigged his team for this Warriors game, hoping for a big response from his troops. Chuck in the history between these two teams with the Panthers absolutely smoking the Warriors earlier in the season and I've got no idea what will happen in this game.

Without the class and composure of Green, I'm not super confident that the Warriors can defend home turf and that's amplified by the hectic nature of the Panthers. With Green there, the Warriors are more likely to sustain control of the tempo and how the game is played, without Green the Warriors could get into a shoot-out with Penrith and that's less than ideal.

Mason Lino gets the gig, replacing Green and it's nice to see clarity in the depth of the Warriors. While Lino hasn't quite shown enough to put any sort of pressure on Green or Shaun Johnson, having Lino present and ready to step up whenever required is an asset for the Warriors. All those little opportunities that Lino got during the season should pay off, we should see the best version of Lino that we have seen all year as he has hopefully learned from each opportunity and can put those learnings into action, in a reasonably important game.

We know Lino is a defensive liability; he still averages the most missed tackles/game (4), almost double Blake Green's 2.2mt/game. Lino is likely to defend on the left edge and while Isaah Yeo/Corey Harawira-Naera are dangerous edge forwards, they aren't Viliame Kikau. Kikau will target Johnson, who himself is 2nd in missed tackles/game (averaging 3.4), but Johnson is a big boy and has seen it all in the NRL. Plus, Johnson will have Adam Blair and Gerard Beale defending with him, filling me with a slither of confidence that they can limit Kikau's influence.

On the left, Lino will defend with Isaiah Papali'i and Solomone Kata. Very young and based on this, I expect Penrith to hit their edges with intent and purpose. With the footy, what I don't like about Lino isn't really anything to do with his skill set etc, it's that he's not Blake Green. Green is exactly the half you want alongside Johnson and with Johnson the dominant half, more experienced half, we tend to get Johnson falling back into 'do everything' mode.

This opens the intrigue door to Lino's role and the balance of work between Lino and Johnson, as well as what is Johnson going to serve up? This could be a statement game for Johnson, a chance for him to show growth and development in leading a Warriors team to a win via control and razzle dazzle. I'm yet to see that, hence Johnson needs Green, but I'd love to see it.

Tohu Harris sneaks on to the bench, presented further mystery around how the Warriors will play. Leivaha Pulu makes way for Harris and Harris will likely take Adam Blair's right edge spot at some stage, with Blair either having a rest or playing through the middle. That's the logical move, logical in terms of resuming status-quo; Harris has spent the whole season playing right edge.

The funky move, could be to put Harris on the left and replace Papali'i. Harris played left edge for Melbourne Storm and this would give the Warriors Harris, Blair and Mannering as their back row; I love that. This would stunt Papali'i's growth as he has settled into the left edge role, but it would give the Warriors an extremely solid look to their edges.

Even funkier, would be Harris getting middle minutes. This is the least likely scenario and it's more likely that Blair will shift to the middle, but Harris has the size, mobility and skill to add a splash of funk to the Warriors middle. Just like having Peta Hiku on the bench does.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has run for over 200m in each of the last three games, two of which were wins. Not only that, but those last three games have been Tuivasa-Sheck's three best games in terms of running metres and without Green, at Mt Smart, I'm eager to see what Tuivasa-Sheck dishes up.

Having flourished by putting a greater emphasis on his running game, how Tuivasa-Sheck adjusts to playing without Green could decide the game given how lethal Tuivasa-Sheck is with the footy. If he is able to trust Lino and the other leaders to control the game, organise etc, then Tuivasa-Sheck can do what he's done recently and focus on his running game. 

There is a chance that Tuivasa-Sheck feels like he has to step up in Green's absence, which if done well would be nek level and no one's ready for nek level Tuivasa-Sheck. However, that clutter of having to do more in Green's absence could take away from what Tuivasa-Sheck does best and we don't want that.

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Peace and love 27.