Aidan KIRK [
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Tue March 24, 2009
Source: www.warriors.co.nzUtility back Aidan Kirk has been called in to replace Manu Vatuvei and loose forward Micheal Luck returns from a week off for the Vodafone Warriors' third-round NRL clash against Brisbane at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
The 23-year-old Vatuvei, one of the Vodafone Warriors' try scorers in their 26-24 win against Manly on Sunday, has a knee injury which is still being fully assessed.
That allows Kirk (23), who played 15 times at NRL level last year, to come onto the left wing outside centre Jerome Ropati.
Also out of the side is interchange prop Leeson Ah Mau, set to be sidelined for a few weeks after he dislocated a shoulder on Sunday.
Returning from the casualty list is vice-captain Luck, named after missing the Manly match after he was knocked out by a heavy Fuifui Moimoi tackle in the season-opening 26-18 win over Parramatta.
He slots back into the No 13 jersey, Sam Rapira is again named as a starting prop - he played in the back row in the opening stanza against Manly - and Russell Packer is again listed on the bench.
Vodafone Warriors coach Ivan Cleary said the opening two weeks of the season had once again underlined how physically demanding the NRL is on the players.
"We ended up losing three players after beating the Eels and, while we beat Manly, it was a brutal battle that certainly left us with some battered players," he said.
"While we don't know the full extent of Manu's injury yet we couldn't see him being ready for Brisbane so that opens the way for Aidan (Kirk) to have his first NRL run of the year. He did a terrific job for us last year.
"And Lucky has trained well the last few days. It was a good decision to give him the week off."
Brisbane heads to Auckland with the same two-from-two record as the Vodafone Warriors so far this year.
They started with a 19-18 victory over North Queensland and held out Melbourne 16-14 last Friday night.
"They've come off two very tough matches impressively. While we have started with the results we aimed for, this takes it up to another level again because the Broncos just have so much to throw at you from all over the park," said Cleary.
"We'll need to be a lot better than we were at times against Manly. While we came back to win the match, there were periods when we weren't playing as well as we needed."
Saturday night's match will be halfback Nathan Fien's 99th for the club. That will leave him on target to reach his 100th in the home match against South Sydney on April 5, making him just the 13th player to reach the milestone for the Vodafone Warriors.
Stacey Jones, again named on the interchange bench after his match-winning deeds against Manly, will play for the Vodafone Warriors at home for the first time since taking on Newcastle on August 20, 2005.
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS v BRISBANE BRONCOS
Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
7.30pm, Saturday, March 28
Referees: Jason Robinson, Matt Cecchin
Vodafone Warriors
1 Wade McKinnon
2 Denan Kemp
3 Brent Tate
4 Jerome Ropati
5 Aidan Kirk
6 Joel Moon
7 Nathan Fien
8 Sam Rapira
9 Ian Henderson
10 Steve Price [c]
11 Simon Mannering
12 Jacob Lillyman
13 Micheal Luck
Interchange:
14 Stacey Jones
15 Russell Packer
16 Jesse Royal
17 Ukuma Ta'ai
18 Daniel O'Regan
Coach: Ivan Cleary
Wed June 18, 2008
by Matthew O'Neill
Source: www.warriors.co.nzUtility Aidan Kirk has become the latest player to re-sign with the Vodafone Warriors while long-serving back rowers Logan Swann and Wairangi Koopu are among a group of players who will finish up with the club at the end of the 2008 NRL season.
Recovery from knee surgery disrupted the 22-year-old Kirk's first season in Auckland in 2007 after joining the Vodafone Warriors on a two-year contract from the Sydney Roosters.
But he started the 2008 campaign by making his NRL debut in the first round against Melbourne on March 17.
And now, after playing on the wing in each of the Vodafone Warriors' last four games - and bagging two tries - he has been signed up for 2009 with an option for 2010.
"In the last few weeks Aidan has shown everyone what we knew he was capable of," said Vodafone Warriors coach Ivan Cleary.
"It was a long road back for him from his knee injury and it hasn't been easy but it's great to see him finally grab his chance in first-grade."
Kirk becomes the seventh Vodafone Warriors NRL player re-signed in recent weeks.
Last month captain Steve Price (2009) and fullback Wade McKinnon (2011) agreed to new deals and in April winger Manu Vatuvei committed to the Vodafone Warriors until the end of the 2011 season.
Also re-signed have been three of the club's most exciting young players - Sonny Fai (20), Russell Packer (18) and Ben Matulino (19) - who have each made their first-grade debuts out of the new under-20 NYC team this year. Matulino became the club's 142nd first-grade player just last Saturday night against Cronulla.
As well as those seven re-signings, the Vodafone Warriors have also secured in-form Brisbane winger Denan Kemp on a two-year contract at the end of this season.
While confirming Kirk's retention, Vodafone Warriors CEO Wayne Scurrah announced four other players would be leaving the club at the end of the season along with 16-year NRL veteran front rower Ruben Wiki.
The 35-year-old Wiki told the Vodafone Warriors in February that he would be making this season his last in the NRL and now Swann (33) and Koopu (28) are joining him. Swann has so far played 181 times in two stints with the club - 1997-2003 and 2007-2008 - and sits behind only Stacey Jones (238) on the Vodafone Warriors' all-time appearances list. Koopu, in his 10th season as an NRL player, ranks fourth with 158 games.
"We were delighted when Logan was able to come back to the club from England in 2007 and then have a second year this season," said Scurrah.
"He has indicated he wants to play on in the English Super League and Wairangi told us some time ago that he also wanted to be able to pursue the chance of playing in England.
"They've both given the club fantastic service over a long period and we'd love to see them doing well in England next year."
Other off-contract players being released are winger Michael Crockett and centre Ryan Shortland.
AIDAN KIRK
Born: March 16, 1986
Birthplace: Gosford, New South Wales
Position: Utility back
Height: 181cm
Weight: 90kg
Junior Club: St Edwards, New South Wales
NRL Debut: Vodafone Warriors v Melbourne, Telstra Dome, March 17, 2008
(Round 1)
Club No: 136
NRL Career: 5 appearances (2008)
NRL Points: 8 (2 tries)
Other clubs: Auckland Vulcans (New South Wales Cup) 2008, Vodafone Auckland Lions (New South Wales Premier League) 2007, Sydney
Roosters 2004-2006
Educated: St Edward's College, Gosford (New South Wales)
News Source:
www.warriors.co.nz
======================================================================================================
 2009 NRL Telstra Premiership
New Zealand Warriors
5 games; 1 tries, 4 points.
[View] Round 3 [28 Mar 09] L 10-26 v Broncos (H). [WG]
[View] Round 4 [05 Apr 09] L 16-22 v Rabbitohs (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 5 [12 Apr 09] L 22-24 v Knights (A). [WG]
[View] Round 13 [07 Jun 09] L 10-18 v Sharks (A). [BE]
[View] Round 26 [05 Sep 09] L 0-30 v Storm (H). [WG]
======================================================================================================
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership
New Zealand Warriors
15 games; 7 tries, 28 points.
[View] Round 1 [17 Mar 08] L 18-32 v Storm (A). [FB]
[View] Round 11 [25 May 08] L 12-38 v Roosters (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 12 [31 May 08] W 18-16 v Knights (A). [WG]
[View] Round 13 [06 Jun 08] L 28-35 v Rabbitohs (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 14 [14 Jun 08] L 8-24 v Sharks (A). [WG]
[View] Round 15 [22 Jun 08] L 14-20 v Sea Eagles (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 16 [29 Jun 08] W 28-26 v Tigers (A). [WG]
[View] Round 18 [12 Jul 08] W 24-14 v Cowboys (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 19 [19 Jul 08] W 40-22 v Bulldogs (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 20 [27 Jul 08] W 8-6 v Storm (H). [WG]
[View] Round 21 [02 Aug 08] L 16-18 v Rabbitohs (A). [WG]
[View] Round 26 [06 Sep 08] W 28-6 v Eels (A). [WG]
[View] Finals Week 1 [14 Sep 08] W 18-15 v Storm (A). [WG]
[View] Finals Week 2 [19 Sep 08] W 30-13 v Roosters (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Finals Week 3 [27 Sep 08] L 6-32 v Sea Eagles. [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
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2006 VB NSWRL Premier League
Newtown Jets
8 tries, 32 points.
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Kirk, Aidan
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