NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster has cleared one of his walking wounded of injury concern, but will give another as long as he needs to be fit for their second game of the new NRL season.
Their opening defeat to Cronulla Sharks wasn't the start to the campaign they hoped for, but the result has Webster prepared to pull out all the stops to win this weekend, even if it means waiting until kickoff to see if hooker Wayde Egan can overcome an elbow injury to face Melbourne Storm
Egan's racing the clock to be fit, training away from the main group at Mt Smart, after being forced from the field against the Sharks.
"He's got an old dodgy elbow from plenty of injuries to it and it's flared up," said Webster. "We're really happy long term that it's going to be okay.
"We're going to give him right up to kickoff, it's just weather he can get range. If he can pass and tackle, if he can do that, he'll play - if he can't, he won't."
Freddy Lussick's likely to face the Storm, if Egan can't get there.. well, maybe.
"We'll keep that secret, so they only find out on gameday, but Freddy is the obvious choice," winks Webster. "Melbourne are one of the best teams at preparing for an opposition."
Meanwhile, Capewell, who left the field with a rib complaint during the second half against Cronulla, has apparently cleared any concerns over his fitness.
The Storm have certainly hit the season running, overcoming threetime defending champions Penrith Panthers in their NRL opener.
"They're going to watch where we went wrong in the weekend and they're gonna double down on that, so we'll have to be on our game," said front-rower Addin Fonua-Blake.
Keeping focused is a main priority.
"We had those little concentration lapses," reflected Fonua-Blake. "It showed on the weekend.
"We had one straight after halftime, then they scored straight away... then we were chasing the rest of the game."
The WArriors will hope there's no repeat on Saturday, but the coach isn't panicking, if they're still rough around the egdes
"We're not going to be perfect," said Webster. "I think every team that won on the weekened were all clunky at some stage."
Having players like Egan involved might help smooth things out.
Join Newshub at 9:30pm Saturday for live updates of the Warriors v Storm NRL clash
