• Howick and Pakuranga Times

HOPES new NRL coach Brian McClennan can inject an exciting new dimension to the NZ Warriors have been stymied by severe injuries to key forwards.

A shoulder injury to Sam Rapira and a high ankle sprain to his brother Steve in last Saturday night’s 22-12 trial win against South Sydney is expected to sideline them from between four to six weeks.

With Jacob Lillyman’s bicep injury not expected to heal quickly, the Warriors propping depth has been seriously dented.

That should open the door for Ukuma Ta’ai and Sione Lousi to see more action off the bench as backups for the rugged Russell Packer and Ben Matulino.

But Sam Rapira’s absence in particular could hurt McClennan’s plans to develop the forward attack with more passing compared to the one-off runs favoured by former coach Ivan Cleary.

The defence will also miss tackling machine Micheal Luck for a few months as he recuperates from shoulder and hand injuries, although talented Elijah Taylor should welcome the chance to develop his game at lock and add something to the attack.

While the Warriors don’t lack depth, the loss of the experienced players could hurt in the early rounds of the NRL.

With standoff half James Maloney in his last season before returning to Australia, the team will be eager to go one step further than their runners-up role to Manly in 2011, when he and halfback Shaun Johnson were key backline figures with fullback Kevin Locke.

All three are penetrative runners capable of stinging any defence and McClennan will be eager to develop his centre attack with the returning Jerome Ropati battling young gun Konrad Hurrell and Krisnan Inu for a starting berth.

A star for the champion under-20 team, Hurrell is a great prospect whose strength and sidestep is capable of sharpening the backline attack under McClennan’s guidance. As a former Kiwi coach who achieved a couple of British premiership crowns for Leeds Rhinos, McClennan favours the expansive game.

With Johnson delivering plenty of razzle-dazzle when introduced midway through last season, the new coach has some exciting material to develop.

Trial form also suggests wing Manu Vatuvei has regained his old sharpness after a bad injury sidelined him for much of last season.

Meanwhile, having annihilated Zimbabwe, New Zealand’s national cricket team can expect a far more severe test of its talent from South Africa. With opener Martin Guptill in sublime form, much of the batting against Zimbabwe’s limited attack was outstanding.

However, the Proteas bowlers pose a much more serious threat, with world-class speedsters Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel backed by the 21-year-old Marchant de Lange, whose figures of 7-81 on debut destroyed Sri Lanka after Christmas.

Such is South Africa’s depth, however, that he couldn’t hold his place when Vernon Philander was fit to return.

It suggests the New Zealand batsmen can expect to be severely tested in going from the ridiculous ease with which they handled Zimbabwe to the sublime threat posed by the hard-nosed Proteas.