The Warriors have completed a rushed signing of young Canberra forward Jack Murchie to ease their injury crisis heading into the NRL season resumption.
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Former Junior Kangaroo Murchie joined the club at their Gosford base on Wednesday night, having been granted an early release on the final year of his Raiders contract.
The 22-year-old completed a first training run with his new teammates on Thursday and signed off the details of his one-season deal soon afterwards.
Having had few opportunities in two seasons at Canberra, Murchie looks a strong chance to be in the Warriors team to face St George Illawarra next week.
It follows the NRL's refusal over the weekend to grant the Warriors access to a loan player following a spate of injuries, most notably to their middle forward contingent.
While Murchie has been regarded as a second-rower in Canberra, his 1.93m, 105kg frame will probably see him line up in a middle.
Coach Stephen Kearney was pleased to secure the services of a player the Kiwi club had been linked with when injuries struck them in the pre-season in February.
"Jack joins us with an opportunity and expectation to play NRL," Kearney said.
"He comes highly recommended and we look forward to giving us some depth leading into our return to the competition next week."
Ulladulla product Murchie came through the Raiders junior system and his three first grade appearances have all been off the interchange.
He only made one appearance last season, struggling to break into a strong first-choice pack that carried the Raiders to the grand final.
Warriors five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita was impressed by his first viewing of Murchie when they trained at their new Central Coast Stadium "home" ground for the first time on Thursday.
"He went well today and hopefully he can do a job for us in the middle," Harris-Tavita said.
"But all the boys are putting their hands up. There's a lot of young middles in there that want to put their hand up and become regular first graders.
"We're pretty low on troops. The injuries will test how well our forwards can perform in different positions."
After 17 days at their quarantine base in Tamworth, the Warriors have found the initial experience at their Terrigal seaside accommodation to be just as restrictive - at least initially.
Outside training, they are confined to their apartments until team management clarifies the protocol around being in the public eye.
Australian Associated Press