Johnson, who missed last weekend’s game against the Sea Eagles because of a groin injury, took part in his first training session of the week, but had to pull out early because of the same problem.

''‘It looks unlikely at this stage that he’ll take his place,'' Warriors coach Andrew McFadden said.  ''We definitely won’t risk him if he’s not 100 per cent.''

The Warriors have just finished going through a lengthy process where Thomas Leuluai’s return from a groin injury had several setbacks and McFadden said the last thing they wanted to do was rush Johnson back before he was right and potentially lose him for the season.

''He’s too important to us long term and he’s the type of athlete that needs to be 100 per cent,'' McFadden said. "He is built on speed and power and if that groin’s not 100 per cent that will affect his performance.''

McFadden said the Warriors didn’t intend for Johnson to join in the training session, but when Johnson said he was right to go, they decided to let him join in.

''We weren’t even expecting him at training today. We were happy for him to do some build-up work on the side,'' he said.

"He felt pretty good in that, so he wanted to have a crack, but obviously that didn’t last very long, so it’s unlikely he’ll take his place this week.''

Johnson’s likely absence means Leuluai will start in the halves and Tuimoala Lolohea will be in the 17. The talented Lolohea will come into the halves when Leuluai gives Nathan Friend a break at hooker and he’ll also cover fullback.

Lolohea, 19, is considered one of the Warriors’ stars of the future and he made his debut last weekend against the Sea Eagles. He didn’t get much game time, but McFadden expects to give him more of a run this weekend.

''It was a bit of a baptism of fire for him last week,'' McFadden said. ''But he did a really good job and it certainly gives me confidence to potentially give him more time, but we’ve got some experience there in Thomas and he’ll probably start the game.''