Veteran loose forward Micheal Luck has been ruled out of the Warriors' round 18 match against the Gold Coast on Saturday night.

Just two games into his return from a nine-month injury lay-off, the 30-year-old Luck's shoulder troubles have returned.

"It's not right and I need to get it looked at by the specialist," he said.

After having off-season surgery on his shoulder and twice on his left wrist, Luck had to wait until the June 16 match against Cronulla before making his comeback.

He was used for 23 minutes against the Sharks and 25 minutes against the North Queensland Cowboys last Sunday in what was his 146th match for the club.

Steve Rapira replaces Luck on the bench while utility Pita Godinet has also been included on a five-man interchange.

The starting line-up is the same as that used against the Cowboys, with Omar Slaimankhel officially named for the first time, rather than being drafted in as a late replacement.

With Slaimankhel's inclusion the Warriors have been fielding a backline with an average age of just 21.71 and averaging only 33.28 games each.

Standoff James Maloney, the old man at 26, and fullback Kevin Locke, the second oldest at 23, are the only players in the backline who have made more than 50 NRL appearances.

The Warriors head into the game sitting alone in ninth place, two points out of the top eight and two points ahead of the 10th-placed Gold Coast.

Their record exactly reflects their position at the same stage last year of seven wins and eight losses.

Warriors: Kevin Locke, Bill Tupou, Ben Henry, Konrad Hurrell, Omar Slaimankhel, James Maloney, Shaun Johnson, Russell Packer, Nathan Friend, Ben Matulino, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering (c), Elijah Taylor. Interchange: Lewis Brown, Sione Lousi, Jacob Lillyman, Steve Rapira, Pita Godinet.

Gold Coast Titans: William Zillman, Kevin Gordon, Jamal Idris, Beau Champion, David Mead, Aidan Sezer, Scott Prince, Luke Bailey, Matt Srama, Luke Douglas, Greg Bird, Mark Minichiello, Nate Myles. Interchange: Matt White, Brenton Lawrence, Ben Ridge, Luke O'Dwyer.

- © Fairfax NZ News