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NRL: Slaimankhel returns for Junior Warriors

Junior Warriors fullback Omar Slaimankhel returns from injury for Sunday’s NYC grand final against North Queensland at ANZ Stadium.

Slaimankhel missed his first game of the season when a hamstring injury kept him out of last week’s preliminary final against Canterbury-Bankstown but has been cleared to play this weekend.

Also a chance of coming back into the side is the club’s NYC Player of the Year, John Palavi, who was originally named to play against the Bulldogs before being ruled out later.

The 19-year-old has been included on an extended bench as the Junior Warriors look to go back-to-back by winning the Toyota Cup in consecutive years.

After dominating the regular season to win the minor premiership, they overwhelmed their opponents in their two play-offs to reach their second grand final, first dismissing Newcastle 54-6 and then a 64-0 shutout – a record winning margin in the NYC – of the Bulldogs last Saturday night.

While they have amassed 118 points and conceded only six in two matches, coach John Ackland and his players know the Cowboys are a much sterner proposition.

Earlier this season they had a big 42-22 win over the Vodafone Junior Warriors in Townsville – one of only four defeats this year – while in the return in the final round of the regular season the Junior Warriors had to recover from a 0-16 deficit to win 28-20 in Auckland.

“They Cowboys are a very good side,” Ackland said. “They’ve got great halves and some big and talented forwards. It’ll be a real test for us.”

The Cowboys also advanced to week three of the finals after a comfortable 48-26 win over Wests Tigers in their first play-off. Last week they beat Cronulla 38-14, with winger Kyle Feldt scoring 22 points from three tries and five goals.

Slaimankhel has been the competition’s leading try scorer most of the season with 27 tries in 25 games and Palavi’s workrate and try-scoring capacity – 10 tries in 22 games – earned him the top accolade this year.

In beating the Bulldogs last weekend, the Junior Warriors lifted their season’s points tally to 969 in 26 matches – an average of 37 a game – and will break the 1000 barrier if they can match that standard.

As many as 11 players will be eligible for next year’s NYC while five were in last year’s premiership-winning side.

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