Warriors players bid adieu in dead rubber

Aug 29, 2017 - 6:54 AM Nearly 700 games worth of NRL experience is about to walk out the Warriors doors as senior players Ryan Hoffman, Ben Matulino and Kieran Foran prepare to pull on the club's jumper for the final time in Sunday's dead-rubber against the Wests Tigers in Sydney.

The trio, all internationals, have been named for the final time in coach Stephen Kearney's squad for the clash on Sunday's at the Tigers' historical Leichhardt Oval. The match has no bearing on the finals make-up as both teams sit well outside the eight.

Matulino, with 211 games, has been with the Warriors since his NRL debut in 2008. The prop forward will actually been playing against his new teammates as he joins Ivan Cleary's Tigers in 2018.

Foran, with 173 first grade games, is a Kiwis teammate of Matulino but is moving on to his fourth NRL club linking with Canterbury next season.

Hoffman, with 304 games, is yet to find a home next year but rumours are strong he will link for a third time with Melbourne. He left Storm in 2011 for Wigan in Super League and left again in 2015 for a three-year stint across the Tasman.

Fringe prop Charlie Gubb is also likely to play his last game for the Warriors after Kearney named him Tuesday on an eight-man extended bench for Sunday's match. Gubb has not been offered a contract extension.

Fellow forwards Jacob Lillyman and Bodene Thompson, are still uncontracted for 2018 and will not get to play the last club game of the year due to season-ending injuries in recent weeks.

So it could be a sombre occasion all round. Definitely for the Warriors fans as a likely 13th place finish for 2017 means a sixth year in a row out of the NRL finals.

The Warriors have only won seven games in 23 so far, but at least six of those wins were at home. The club has an ugly 'away' record of 1-10, which makes playing the Tigers at Leichhardt this weekend no easier.

Source: AAP