Auckland Warriors

The Storm have beaten the Warriors 42-20 to record their fifth straight victory in the annual fixture.

The reigning premiers are now fourth on the ladder, while the Warriors have dropped to ninth.

The visitors were undermanned and Warriors coach Nathan Brown handed debuts to teenagers Reece Walsh and Rocco Berry.

Walsh has only been with the club for a couple of weeks, having been released by the Brisbane Broncos.

"We could see Reece's talent there today and he is a very talented kid," Brown said.

The Auckland club hopes that final clearance will be given today to head across the Tasman to start preparing for the return of the National Rugby League (NRL).

The club is organising a charter flight for its 32 players and 18 staff to depart Auckland on Sunday.

The Australian government and state officials will hold meetings today to discuss frameworks around the return to sport at all levels and how they may implement that.

Leilua has put his hand up for a New South Wales State of Origin debut after spearheading his sides 20-8 win of the Warriors.

As well as tries either side of half-time, Leilua amassed 125m, seven tackle busts and two linebreaks as Ricky Stuart's side recorded their third victory on the trot.

While there are lingering question marks over the 25-year-old wrecking ball's defence, he received a ringing endorsement from Balmain and NSW great Steve Roach during the Fox Sports broadcast.

The Auckland-based outfit were outclassed in atrocious conditions at Mount Smart Stadium, despite putting up a solid showing through the middle of the park.

No side dominated the rain-soaked tussle, but the Storm proved too ruthless in their execution, nabbing four tries to two and grinding out the two points.

Kearney was pleased with his forward pack's showing but rued the team's inability to see out the 80 minutes after losing Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to concussion.

RNZ reports the move will appease many pundits and fans who've been critical of coach Andrew McFadden for picking the 21-year-old on the bench in their two recent losses.

Assistant coach Andrew Webster says Lolohea is primed for a big performance.

"Tui can play anywhere in the backline at a very high level. He's had plenty of experience at fullback in his short time in the NRL and I think he's going to be great for us, you saw what he did when he came onto the field for us late last week (in the golden point loss to Manly)."

The streak stretched back to July 2015, making Monday's round four victory their first this season.

The home side was strengthened by the return from injury of Isaac Luke and Manu Vatuvei, who both scored tries, and the promotion from reserve grade of popular centre Konrad Hurrell.