Warriors

Johnson to return for Manly clash

The 27-year-old has been stalled on 149 games since an ankle injury picked up in the 70th minute of the club's 26-4 win over Wests Tigers last month.

After scoring his 61st career try in the victory, Johnson was then forced to miss the last three outings against the Sydney Roosters, Parramatta and South Sydney.

With his seventh appearance this year, the club's record points-scorer (825 points) will become the 12th member of the Vodafone Warriors' 150-game club having made his debut against the Roosters in 2011 and his 100th against the same opposition in 2015.

Warriors take game two v Cavs

If the Cavaliers hope to compete in these Finals, they need LeBron James to be at his absolute best, but he was not in game two.

James looked absolutely unstoppable in a 51-point performance in game one, as he was nearly flawless driving to the basket and dropping bombs from three-point range, but Sunday he passed up several open looks from deep early and only had two shots nine minutes into the game.

RTS back for Warriors

The skipper was a late scratching from last week's win over the Eels in Sydney as he stayed home with his fiancee Ashley Walker, who is due to give birth to their first child.

Halfback Shaun Johnson is still sidelined by an ankle injury, while Tuivasa-Sheck's return means Peta Hiku pushes out to the centres after filling in at fullback.

Gerard Beale drops to the bench.

Other than Tuivasa-Sheck coming back into the line-up there are no other changes in personnel among the 17 players used against the Eels although there are two positional swaps.

Warriors cause more misery for Eels

It's the Eels ninth loss in eleven games and sees them remain at the bottom of the NRL ladder.

The Warriors led 12-2 at the break but the Eels looked like getting their season back on track when they scored twice to lead 14-12 midway throught the second half.

But they let the match slip just eight minutes later when Mitchell Moses misfielded an awkward Blake Green kick, allowing Warriors utility Jazz Tevaga to scoop up the ball and score.

Johnson ruled out for Warriors

With Johnson injuring his ankle in the win over the Tigers last weekend, Mason Lino will start in the No 7 jersey in the only change to the playing 17 named for the Indigenous Round battle at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Lino will make his fourth appearance of the season after previously filling the position against the Roosters, North Queensland and Melbourne.

Luke was forced off with a shoulder injury in the 55th minute in the 26-4 over the Tigers, while Blair left the field with an ankle complaint after returning from the bench for his second stint.

Durant guides Warriors to 3-1 lead

Durant – the 2014 MVP – led all scorers with 38 points on 15-of-27 shooting with nine rebounds and five assists as Golden State topped New Orleans 118-92 on Sunday.

The Warriors went with their vaunted death line-up of Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala and every player registered a plus/minus of plus-21 points or better as Golden State took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Injury-ravaged Warriors outclass Tigers

Bouncing back from last week's 50-10 humiliation at the hands of Melbourne, the hosts on Saturday night handed the Tigers their third straight loss and their biggest defeat of the season.

Dampening any major celebrations was the sight of key playmakers Issac Luke (arm/shoulder) and Shaun Johnson (leg) escorted from the field in the second half.

That veteran hooker Luke was even playing was remarkable given the club had initially said his knee injury suffered against the Storm required a four-week break.

Warriors welcome back big guns for clash with Wests Tigers

Half Shaun Johnson, centre Solomone Kata, and forward Tohu Harris have all been named in the starting side who will be looking to bounce back from their Anzac Day drubbing in Melbourne.

In what could be a stunning turnaround, Issac Luke is set to remain in the No. 9 jersey despite being deemed unavailable for the next four weeks due to injury as recently as Monday.

The in-form hooker went through Monday's practice and is now pencilled in to start after he lasted just 16 minutes against Melbourne before he succumbed to a knee injury.

Warriors ownership set to change hands within days

Auckland Rugby League, through the Carlaw Heritage Trust formed out of the sale of Carlaw Park, have got an agreement for sale in place with the team's majority owner Eric Watson.

Reports had surfaced early this month that a different group - largely former professional athletes led by Richard Fale and based in Hawaii - had reached a verbal agreement to buy the club.

The sale to the Hawaii consortium - for somewhere in the region of $24 million - had reportedly been waiting only for a final decision from Watson.

Melbourne Storm trounce the Warriors

Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith was asked in the lead-up to their Anzac Day match if a win over NRL premiership contenders the Warriors meant the Storm were back and his team gave an emphatic answer at AAMI Park in Melbourne, delivering a statement that they wouldn't be handing over their title without a fight.

The Warriors came into the annual clash, hyped up having only dropped one game, while the Storm had won their previous two after a patchy start to the season.